An additional £150,000 in funding has been awarded to the ‘Raising Voices in Research’ project in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, which aims to bring together NHS, voluntary, community and research organisations to work with local people on how research could better involve communities.
So far, the project has seen the creation of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICS Research Collaborative, which includes more than 60 people with an interest in involving people with research and engagement. Outcomes from a series of workshops and events held with communities from November to March this year have also been fed into the ICS’s local research plan, including key recommendations for health researchers on involving local people in their work and how to plan recruitment in an inclusive manner.
The partnership approach to the project includes input from Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB, Action Hampshire, the universities of Winchester and Southampton, and voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations from across the region.
Nicky Judd, head of community projects at Action Hampshire, says: “Raising Voices in Research followed Action Hampshire’s approach of working with communities by partnering with the voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations from those communities. Diverse communities shared how research could better involve them to make research findings more reflective of our communities. We’re really excited to be embarking, with our partners, on phase two which will bring researchers and communities together to act on those recommendations and develop ‘community approved’ research opportunities.”
In other news from the region, ahead of the creation of a new NHS trust, intended to “deliver more joined up and consistent community, mental health and learning disability care” in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Ron Shields has been appointed as chief executive officer for the new organisation.
