Engaging with diverse communities is essential to ensuring research is relevant, inclusive and impactful.

Our Patient and Public, Involvement and Engagement Manager Judith McGuinness attended Pride together with Newcastle Health Research Partnership (NHRP) and activities at Rainbow Home to connect with community members, raise awareness about our work, and share how members of the public can get involved.

NIHR BRC at Pride

The event was a vibrant and colourful celebration, attracting large crowds throughout the day. Judith McGuinness joined Public Partnerships coordinator from NHRP Katie Pegg, engaging with a wide range of people, providing information about clinical research and the important role it plays in improving healthcare and shaping future treatments.

There was strong interest, with many positive conversations taking place and excellent engagement from members of the public. The event provided a valuable opportunity to connect with local communities, promote inclusivity in research, and encourage greater involvement in studies that can benefit patients now and in the future.

The NIHR BRC: Newcastle was proud to be part of such a positive community event and to support efforts to ensure research is accessible and representative of all communities.

Community research awareness sessions at Rainbow Home North

Rainbow Home North hosted two pilot community research awareness sessions which were coordinated by Newcastle Health Research Partnership (NHRP) and delivered in collaboration with Connected Voice Haref, the NIHR Regional Research Delivery Network, the NIHR Clinical Research Facility (CRF) and Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NuTH). Rainbow Home supports LGBTQ+ people in the North East who are seeking sanctuary.

Working for NIHR Clinical Research Facility: Newcastle as well as the NIHR BRC: Newcastle, Judith McGuinness had a fantastic opportunity to work alongside colleagues at NHRP to deliver a series of community research awareness sessions at Rainbow Home. The pilot sessions explored ways to engage people in health research, build trust, and create meaningful links between research organisations and communities that are traditionally under-represented in research.

The learning from these pilot sessions is feeding into a resource bank for practioners to deliver community research awareness session. These resources will support practioners to deliver community research awareness sessions consistently, helping communities understand health research and access opportunities to get involved across research delivery partners.

Developed through Creating Connections and supported by NIHR HealthTech Research Centre, NIHR Clinical Research Facility (CRF), Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NuTH) and Newcastle Health Research Partnership, the session format and content are being co-produced with Involved and Equal, who are a community interest company providing disability inclusion advice, consultancy, and training.

More on NHRP here.