Royal Surrey kicks off Research in the Community PPIE programme
The Royal Surrey Research, Development & Innovation (RD&I) team met with members of Surrey’s Syrian, Kurdish, and Nigerian communities on 7 October, as part of its Clinical Research Network (CRN) Kent, Surrey and Sussex-funded Research in the Community initiative.
The Research in the Community programme is a partnership between Royal Surrey RD&I and the Surrey Minority Ethnic Forum (SMEF). It is funded by the NIHR CRN Kent Surrey and Sussex’s Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Space to Lead programme. It is part of a nation-wide drive to increase research visibility among communities with low levels of engagement in research.
The meeting involved wide-ranging discussions around health issues and the perception of NHS services in the community. The group discussed health and care research, identifying the key areas they felt should be focused on, and the potential barriers to increased engagement with health and care research.
Professor Aftab Ala, Professional Director for Research and Development at Royal Surrey, and Hepatology Lead for NIHR CRN Kent, Surrey and Sussex, ran a session on liver health. He highlighted the main causes and symptoms before leading a conversation with attendees about how lifestyle changes can lower the risks of liver problems
The meeting was the first in a series of events planned by Royal Surrey to engage different minority groups and seldom-heard voices across the county.
“The meeting gave us a fantastic opportunity to learn from these important, and all-too-often marginalised groups in our society,” said Professor Ala. “We learned so much by talking to the group. They were insightful, engaged and had many excellent ideas that will certainly influence the way we approach our research in the future.”
Madeline Bell, PPIE Lead for the NIHR CRN Kent Surrey and Sussex said: "A key priority in health and care research is making it accessible for our whole population; we need to work closely with communities that don’t currently take part in our research, to find out what the reasons are behind that, and work together on how to change that. It is only by listening and working together that we will develop and deliver research that works for all and meets the needs of communities across Kent, Surrey and Sussex.”
Patients and members of the public are being invited to join the team as Public Research Champions – who will help to steer and shape the work of researchers working at Royal Surrey.
Anyone from Surrey who is interested in becoming a Public Research Champion, or would like the team to come and talk to a community group that you are involved in, should email rsc-tr.ResearchAndDevelopment@nhs.net, including the words “Research in the Community” in the subject line.
