This course focuses on participatory approaches in research, known as 'public involvement' in the UK. You'll specifically, consider why citizens and patients would be involved in research and explore participatory approaches across and within the research cycle in more detail, diving into questions such as:
This course is part of the Participatory Approaches in Public Health Specialization
Offered By
About this Course
Suitable for any background, including patients, members of the public, healthcare professionals, researchers alike.
Skills you will gain
Suitable for any background, including patients, members of the public, healthcare professionals, researchers alike.
Offered by

Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a world top ten university with an international reputation for excellence in science, engineering, medicine and business. located in the heart of London. Imperial is a multidisciplinary space for education, research, translation and commercialisation, harnessing science and innovation to tackle global challenges.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Differenciating Public Involvement and Co-production in Health Research
Welcome to Module 1! Over the next 4 modules, you'll focus on how citizens and patients can be involved in research from the research side. You'll explore participation across and within the research cycle (as we refer to it) in more detail, specifically, what kinds of participation can be undertaken at each of the 7 stages of the research cycle. Although these modules have a public health focus, the methodologies and ways of involving citizens and patients across and within the research cycle apply to other disciplines and kinds of research too (even basic research – although it can be slightly more challenging!). First, you need to be clear about the definitions we use, so let’s start there.
Role of Public Involvement and Co-production Throughout the Research Cycle
Welcome to Module 2. You will now dive down into participatory approaches taken in the UK in publicly funded health research which are framed around the 7 stages of the ‘research cycle’ (as we call it). You will learn why involving citizens and patients in research is valuable, how you might go about involving people at the different stages of the research cycle and hear about case studies and examples of how this has been done in the real world. In Lesson 1, you will look at the role of public involvement and co-production throughout the first stage of the research cycle (Identifying and Prioritising), review some methodologies which can be used to identify and prioritise research topics and hear about some examples. In Lesson 2, you will look at the role of public involvement and co-production throughout the second stage (Designing and Managing) and third stage (Funding and Commissioning) of the research cycle and hear about how citizens and patients have been involved at these stages.
What Is the Role of Public Involvement and Co-production Throughout the Stages of the Research Cycle? (Covering Stage 4 (Undertaking and Analysing), Stage 5 (Disseminating) and Stage 6 (Implementing))
Welcome to Module 3! In Lesson 1, you'll look at the role of public involvement and co-production throughout the fourth stage of the research cycle (Undertaking and Analysing). Qualitative research might seem the most obvious kind of research in which to involve citizens and patients as co-researchers - e.g. in interviews and surveys. However, you're going to study some other examples where citizens and patients can inform the “doing” of research - for example, systematic reviews. In Lesson 2, you'll look at the role of public involvement and co-production throughout the fifth stage and the sixth stages of the research cycle (Disseminating) and (Implementing) respectively. You'll also hear about how citizens have been involved at these stages.
How can you evaluate public involvement and co-production in health research (stage 7 of the research cycle)?
In this module, you will learn about the ways to evaluate public involvement and co-production in health research (stage 7 of the research cycle). Jack Jacques gives an interview in which he talks about his experience with evaluating the impact of public involvement - we encourage you to listen to this. You also have the opportunity to decide on an evaluation tool which can be applied to your own setting - you'll write a short summary justifying why you'd choose the tool and evaluating its strengths and limitations.
About the Participatory Approaches in Public Health Specialization
This specialisation guides learners through the process of designing an appropriate participatory approach to a given public health challenge, focusing on the history, theory and practice of participatory approaches to public health. You'll gain an understanding of the impact of social and cultural contexts in which public health programmes exist, as well as, why participatory approaches could better assist in meeting the population’s needs and solving certain health-related challenges.

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