Public involvement and community engagement

Grounded Research is committed to involving people in our work through public involvement and community engagement where we engage the public, patients, carers, family members, representative groups, and clinical services so they can be actively involved in research projects.

• We define public involvement in research as being research that is carried out with or by members of the public, rather than something that is done to, about or for them.
• The involvement of patients and carers is vitally important in making sure our activities are relevant to the people our research affects.
• At every stage of the research cycle, from helping to decide what is an important research question, to how best we can carry out that research, and how we communicate the results, patient and public involvement helps to improve research quality and accessibility.

In 2022 we piloted a national scheme called Research Ready Communities to build better relationships with communities that are currently under-served by health and care research, to increase their access to healthcare research opportunities.

Our patient research ambassadors are patients, carers, members of the public, people who have taken part in a research study before, as well as those who haven’t. They promote and support public and professional engagement in research. They volunteer their time to help spread the word about health and care research to patients and the public, and especially those groups who are currently less likely to take part in research.

The Ethnic Minority Research Inclusion network works alongside the Yorkshire and Humber Clinical Research (EMRI) Network and is made up of research staff and members of the public from across the region. We have a keen interest in promoting health equality and work closely with EMRI with a shared interest in increasing access and representation in healthcare research within ethnic minority communities. We do this by attending the EMRI steering group meetings, being involved in the priority setting for the EMRI work programme and contributing to specific work streams. In addition to his post as clinical studies officer in the Grounded Research team, Louis Palmer is also the EMRI hub lead for South Yorkshire.

We are always interested to hear of new ways to work effectively and inclusively with our communities over the next few years, so please get in touch with ideas and suggestions.

You can contact Jennie Smith, our Research Communications and Engagement Officer by email at:

• Email: jennie.smith17@nhs.net

Page last reviewed: January 26, 2024
Next review due: January 26, 2025