Ealing Community Involvement Event

Ealing Community Involvement in Research Event October 2024

Report Executive Summary 

Approach 

The Imperial Biomedical Research Centre Patient Experience Research Centre (PERC), in collaboration with Saira Minhas—member of the Ealing Parent Carer Forum and Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Community Partner—organised this event, where the local community was invited to get involved in research, with a particular focus on involving Ealing Parent Carers.

Ealing Parent Carers are parents and carers of disabled children and young people, up to the age of 25, who live in Ealing. Saira’s established relationships within the community were instrumental in building trust and encouraging attendance.

The event was similar to a previous public involvement methodology used by PERC, called a People’s Research Cafe, and was co-designed with Saira, who supported the engagement and design process to adapt it to the needs of the local community. It aimed to inspire parent carers and the local community to get involved in research, ensuring their voices were heard and healthcare research addressed their needs. It also provided a platform for researchers to gather valuable feedback in an informal pop-up café setting, allowing visitors to learn about public involvement and see examples in action.

Event overview

The project selection criteria focused on topics that were a priority for the community hosting the event. Saira guided the selection process, choosing projects based on these priorities. Additionally, the criteria included projects at any stage of the research cycle, as long as they were still open to being influenced or improved by the community’s feedback. Out of the 13 applications submitted, 9 projects were selected.

The event took place on Thursday, October 10th, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at the West Acton Community Centre. Nine tables were hosted by at least one researcher and co-hosted by an Imperial BRC Community Partner, to engage visitors in discussions about their projects. The 25 community visitors in attendance rotated between tables every 15 to 30 minutes, allowing them to learn about different research projects and share their feedback.

Feedback and impact

The feedback from all attendees highlighted the strengths such as the positive atmosphere and organisation. Suggestions for improvement included better acoustics, easier venue access to increase footfall on the day and healthier food options.

The event’s key impacts included:

• Visitor insights influenced research projects discussed at the event, with outcomes shared on the PERC website. This contributes to achievement of the second aim of the Imperial BRC Public Involvement, Engagement and Participation in Research (PPIEP) Strategy: to involve the public in BRC projects and activities and plan this from the outset.
• Involving community members who have not previously been involved in research. For most visitors, this was their first public involvement activity and therefore contributed to the achievement of the third aim of the Imperial BRC PPIEP Strategy: to engage and involve communities in our population which are underrepresented and under-served in research.
• Building capacity and confidence in researchers. Following the event researchers reported increased knowledge of, and confidence in undertaking, public involvement. This contributed to the achievement of the fifth aim of the Imperial BRC PPIEP Strategy: to build capacity and confidence in BRC researchers to enable them to involve the public in research.
• Building capacity and confidence in Community Partners and visitors to support and facilitate public involvement, as 8 Community Partners co-hosted the research project discussions with 25 visitors. This contributed to the achievement of the sixth aim of the Imperial BRC PPIEP Strategy: to build capacity and confidence in the public to enable them to get involved in research.

Future similar events will be co-designed with different communities underrepresented in research.  

For more information, please read the full report: Report - Ealing Community Involvement in Research Event