Communicating impact: A case study competition promoting public involvement in research

2014 Conference

Abstract: Involving People supports health and social care researchers based in Wales to make public involvement an essential part of their work. We do this by connecting researchers with the ‘Involving People Network’, members of the public who can bring their knowledge and experience to research.

For the Involving People Annual Meeting 2014 we established our first Case Study Competition. Involving People network members were invited to submit a case study describing how their involvement was having a positive impact on research studies.

This was an important opportunity for Involving People to provide a format for members of the public to reflect on their own involvement and to promote their positive experiences through our communication channels.

We will look at the Case Study Competition as a method of collecting examples of impact and public involvement models, focusing on the winning entry which was developed by Alun Toghill, Involving People Network Member, and Marina Koniotou, Researcher for TRUST, Swansea University.

We will also discuss the importance of members of the public having the opportunity to communicate their impact on research studies; invite ideas about methods of collecting examples of impact; and how to promote them to a wider audience.