Evidence Library

Abstract:

This paper, written by service users and researchers, is about the experience of a service user advisory group that was set up to advise an evaluation of diabetes services in Bradford. Service user members of the group reported the following benefits:

• greater confidence
• feeling of making a contribution
• better knowledge of diabetes and diabetes services that they were also able to pass on to others.

Advisory group members became key communication links between the research team and the wider community passing information in both directions. This gave the project greater credibility as well as access to different networks.

Researchers describe the benefits in terms of:

• being able to test the appropriateness and effectiveness of their research tools, for example questionnaires
• developing appropriate recruitment strategies - how to contact potential participants and address payment issues
• greater knowledge of the experience of diabetes and using diabetes services.

They also reported that service users suggested topics and research questions they had not considered and challenged some of the background assumptions and aims of the research.

The researchers also state that there were costs in terms of time and resources and that careful attention had to be paid to the role of the group, so they didn't stray off task or weren't used like a focus group by the researchers.

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Related entry: none currently available

Categories: health
Identifying topics, prioritising and commissioning
Designing research
impact on research
impact on research ethics
impact on service users involved
impact on researchers
impact of public involvement
journal article
Recruitment

Date Entered: 2007/03/03

Date Edited: 2012/11/20