Since December 2022, Action Hampshire has worked with its partners across the VCSE communities in Hampshire and Isle of Wight to deliver on the Raising Voices in Research (RViR) project, with much success.
As RViR moves into the next phase, Community Researcher Jessica Johnson tells the story of how the project started, and what impact it has made since then. We are proud to partner with so many fantastic organisations and are excited to see where RViR will take us in the future and how you can get involved!
The Raising Voices In Research (RViR) has been a major project for Action Hampshire since forming in 2022. As part of the Integrated Care System (ICS) Research Engagement Network Development (REND) Programme, the RViR project aim is to engage seldom reached communities for inclusion into NHS England Research and Innovation research initiatives.
Where it all started…
November 2022…
Back in November 2022, Action Hampshire got together with Hampshire and Isle and Wight ICB, University Hospital Southampton, University of Winchester, Hampshire County Council, and Energise Me to put together a bid for the Integrated Care System Research Engagement Network Development (ICS REND) fund. The purpose of this fund was to increase under-served communities’ involvement in health and care research. It was a quick turnaround, with conversations held one week and our submitted bid going in the next, only for us to find out we’d been successful a couple of weeks later!
January – March 2023…
December was spent preparing so we were able to hit the ground running in January. 11 VCSE organisations were recruited to deliver two workshops with their community members:
- Age UK Portsmouth
- Bantaba4change
- Basingstoke Hindu Society
- Disabled Peoples Voice
- Drop the Mask
- Recapture Life
- Sight for Wight
- Solent Mind
- St Denys Activity Group
- Winchester GoLD
- Yellow Door
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 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.
September 2023…
After a successful Phase 1, we put in a bid 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):
- Work Better Innovations
- Bridge to Unity
- Portsmouth City of Sanctuary
- Motiv8 South
- Breakout Youth
- Portsmouth Pride
- Yellow Brick Road Projects
- Step by Step
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 (follow this link to read the document). The Plan reveals 7+ themes that are important to these communities: Incentives; Feedback; Effective communication; Data protection; Transport; Respect; Trust (which included a sub-theme of Safety).
January – March 2024…
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). Lesley Barton from Recapture Life was selected to be the HIVCA Research Representative, and the final opportunity was with University of Winchester, co-producing a RViR training module for researchers.
The hard work didn’t even end there! The Partners also hosted two online Research Collaborative events. Started in Phase 1, the Research Collaborative brings together VCSE organisations, researchers, and community members to discuss opportunities and best practice for involving seldom heard communities in health and care research. We made this possible with online events and our hosted discussion group on Basecamp. Please follow this link if you’d like to join the Research Collaborative.
Summer 2024 and beyond…
Over the summer we’ve been reviewing all the RViR work and deciding how we should develop the project in the future. After submitting another bid, we’ve just found out our proposal to continue the work has been accepted! We’re extremely grateful for all the hard work undertaken by the VCSE organisations and researchers as part of this project. Together we’ve made a strong contribution to ensuring under-served communities can and want to participate in health and care research; work we’re excited to keep developing and growing in this next phase!
To keep up to date with project developments, join the Research Collaborative NOW! Follow this link to join the Research Collaborative now
