About - The Programme
RViR Phase 1
11 VCSE organisations were recruited to deliver two workshops with their community members. The purpose of these workshops was to explore the needs and perceptions of community members regarding health research, as well as understanding what would encourage them to take part in health research. To support VCSEs with their workshops, the partners delivered an introductory session with the aim of demystifying research and engagement. We provided tools for engaging with their community members and explained the purpose of the project.
The organisations worked quickly to deliver the workshops between January – March 2023 and generated some interesting insights. These insights were used to co-produce:
- A Local Plan for Research – a document that outlines to researchers what different under-served communities need to participate in research
- A Pledge – a document that summaries the key points of the Local Plan for Research which can be implemented by researchers
- Communications Toolkits – multiple documents that summarise how each VCSE organisation and their community members want to be communicated with about research opportunities.
All of these outputs can be downloaded from our Insights page.
Phase 2
After a successful Phase 1, we put in a second bid to the ICS REN fund for RViR Phase 2 which was accepted in September 2023. For this next phase, we recruited 8 new VCSE organisations who work with communities we hadn’t previously reached (refugees and asylum seekers, LGBTQ+ communities, people experiencing homelessness).
These organisations re-ran phase 1 of the project, providing important insights that were then used to create a revised edition of the Local Plan for Research.
After delivering the workshops, the new organisations, alongside 7 from the first phase, were invited to take part in the Research Adaption Programme (RAP). The VCSE organisations were matched with a researcher who had a current research opportunity. They worked together to adapt the research, so it better met the needs identified within the Local Plan for Research. The groups completed recommendations tables, which detailed actions researchers can take to increase the accessibility of their research, when they’re going to take them, and how they’re going to feedback their progress to communities. Some of the recommendations that were actioned included:
- Streamlining participant recruitment process by combining the expression of interest/screening and consent questions in a single online form – reducing time required and burden on participants
- Providing different options for participating to acknowledge people’s different communication preferences
- Asking for preferred pronouns in initial communication, and how they want to be addressed (e.g. Mr, Ms, Mx) - to avoid misgendering
- Raising accessibility/screen reader issues with the website/survey developers
Alongside the RAP, the VCSE organisations also took part in an additional opportunity. For some this was the RAP Review Panel – screening and selecting the relevant research opportunities. Others produced content about their experiences participating in RAP, which were shared as part of a ‘RViR Communications Takeover’ (follow this link to read Portsmouth Pride’s). A couple of the VCSEs were invited to co-produce a training module based on the Local Plan for Research and learnings from across both project phases. You can find out more about our ‘Developing community-led research’ training module by visiting the ‘Training’ page.
Across both phases of RViR, the partnership developed a Research Collaborative that brings together VCSE organisations, researchers, and community members to discuss opportunities and best practice for involving under-served communities in research. The Collaborative aims to meet three times a year and uses an online platform called Basecamp for ongoing engagement. Head to the Research Collaborative page to find out more!
Shaping the Conversation
Often health research projects originate with researchers, and research organisations set the priorities for health research. This results in health research being done to, rather than in collaboration with under-served communities. Consequently, these communities may be less likely to participate in research because it doesn’t reflect the issues they are affected by or care about. The Raising Voices in Research partners (Action Hampshire, Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB, University Hospital Southampton, University of Winchester) developed ‘Shaping the Conversation’, to address this issue and empower VCSEs to share and develop their health research priorities.
The project ran from April – October 2024 and was funded by NIHR Clinical Research Network Wessex via their Small Grants Scheme working with communities under-served by research. We recruited 12 VCSE organisations and provided them with a grant to deliver a workshop with 10 of their community members. The purpose of this workshop was to explore what health research these community members would like to see delivered. An organisation representative summarised these discussions in a Feedback Form, providing the top 3 research priorities identified by their group.
The Engaging Communities Research Centre at the University of Winchester reviewed the 34 research questions shared by the VCSEs and grouped them into three themes:
- Person-centered mental health interventions
- Culture, stigma, and health
- Health inequalities
Researchers and research organisation representatives with expertise/interest in these three areas were then invited to attend a sandpit event with the participating VCSE organisations, who brought with them one member of their community. Overall, there were 52 attendees. The purpose of the sandpit event was to build a shared understanding of what research questions matter, as well as to build momentum for collaborative research projects which could make a meaningful difference to local communities.
The sandpit event was a great success with 100% of VCSE survey participants agreeing that it helped them to develop research ideas with and for their communities, that they were more confident to share the research priorities with others, and that they felt listened to and heard.
“It was interesting to talk through ideas and hear everyone’s perspective” – VCSE Participant
Moreover, 100% of researcher survey participants agreed that they have a greater understanding of the research that matters to communities and a better understanding of how to connect with communities to collaborate on research.
“The opportunity to be part of a lively and invigorating conversation, meeting representatives from a diversity of organisations and sharing ideas.” – Researcher Participant
Where are we now?
Five research priorities were developed into ideas and taken forward from this event by partnerships of VCSE representatives, community members, and researchers. These research topics are:
- What support do communities need to implement community-based solutions
- Better supporting people at the intersectionality between neurodiversity and LGBTQ+
- Healthy eating and nutrition related behaviours
- AI culture and language in health settings
- Young people and peer support
These groups are currently developing their ideas further and assessing the opportunities available for project funding.
The Shaping the Conversation team developed a VCSE research priorities database containing all the research interests and ideas that VCSE organisations have identified and developed through the project. The VCSE priorities database will become a key resource in terms of designing research ideas and setting research priorities across the region as we can use it to connect interested VCSE organisations and researchers. To find out more about the database, join our Research Collaborative.