Authors' objectives: There is increasing recognition in health and social care that the active involvement in research of patients and service users, and other stakeholders, is important and necessary on the grounds of ethical and political principle, research quality and personal empowerment. Some training initiatives for consumers have been established to support this involvement. The purpose of this study is to examine these initiatives with the aim of identifying good practice and impact, and to inform the future development of training initiatives in this context. Following a review of the literature, this project will undertake a national scoping exercise to gauge the prevalence of training initiatives for consumer involvement in research. The collected data will be analysed in order to map the range and nature of such initiatives, as well as the aims and content of training. We will then carry out a small number of in-depth case studies to explore participants' and providers' experiences of the training and any similarities / differences between these. Factors that stakeholders consider contribute to 'successful' training will be identified, 'successful' being measured by adequate preparation for involvement in research and personal empowerment. Outputs of the project will include a set of guidelines to assist in evaluation of future training initiatives. This is a collaborative project with three partners: CAPITAL (Clients and Professionals in Learning and Training), a West Sussex mental health service user organisation; Worthing & Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust; and the Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Research at the University of Brighton. A number of CAPITAL members will work as Research Assistants on the project, and will undertake training for this role. This training provision will also be evaluated.

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/hta/014507/#/

Year Published: 2002

URL for published report: https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/hta/014507/#/documentation

Requestor: NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Full HTA

Country: England, United Kingdom

Organisation Name: NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme

Contact Address: NIHR Journals Library, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre, Alpha House, University of Southampton Science Park, Southampton SO16 7NS, UK

Contact Name: journals.library@nihr.ac.uk

Contact Email: journals.library@nihr.ac.uk

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