Involve

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INVOLVE is a national advisory Group, funded by the National Institute for Health Research, which aims to promote and support active public involvement in NHS, public health and social care research.

INVOLVE was established to promote public involvement in research, in order to improve the way that research is prioritised, commissioned, undertaken, communicated and used. Its members believe that the active involvement of the public in the research process leads to research that is more relevant to people and is more likely to be used. Research which reflects the needs and views of the public, is more likely to produce results that can be used to improve practice in health and social care.

INVOLVE defines involvement as an active partnership between the public and researchers in the research process, rather than the use of people as the ‘subjects’ of research. Active involvement may take the form of consultation, collaboration or user control. Many people define public involvement in research as doing research ‘with’ or ‘by’ the public, rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ the public. This would include, for example, public involvement in advising on a research project, assisting in the design of a project, or in carrying out the research.

INVOLVE meets four times a year and includes a broad mix of service users, informal carers, representatives of voluntary organisations, health and social services managers and researchers. Nick Partridge is the current chair of INVOLVE