Disseminating research

Members of the public involved in your research will want to ensure that the findings are widely disseminated so they can influence and change practice for the better. It has been found that involving people just at the dissemination stage is less successful if they have not been involved at earlier stages of the research as they do not have either the ownership or knowledge of the context of the research. However if they have been involved at other stages in the research they will be more likely to disseminate the results to their networks. They will be able to help summarise the research findings in clear user-friendly language and ensure that the information is accessible to a public audience.

To encourage and support public involvement in dissemination:

  • develop progress reports or newsletters to keep people informed throughout the project, reporting both negative and positive results
  • feedback results to all those you consulted and collaborated with as well as participants
  • work with members of the public to develop your dissemination plans – they will often have access to groups and forums that researchers are not aware of
  • involve people in presenting at conferences, speaking to patients, support groups and service providers
  • ask members of the public involved in your research to be co-authors in journal and newsletter articles
  • acknowledge the contribution members of the public made to the research when writing journal articles and reports.

Remember to include in your grant application funding for public involvement in disseminating the findings and consider if you will need to allocate funding for developing and printing summaries and for postage.

Without doubt the participation of young people in presentations of the results to professionals brought home some of the findings and recommendations more powerfully than if they had been presented by the researcher alone.

(Petrie et al 2006 page 44)

It’s not too late – if you have reached the stage of disseminating your research, there are still options open to you for involving people. (See briefing note five for things you need to consider):

  • discuss your research findings with members of the public and listen to their views
  • ask for their ideas on how best to report your findings to others such as networks, newsletters and different media and formats
  • involve people in working with you to ensure that the information is clear and easy to understand for different audiences
  • reflect on and plan how you will involve people earlier in your next project.


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