Published: 01 April 2020
The NIHR has launched a new Centre for Engagement and Dissemination that brings together its activities in patient and public involvement, engagement and participation with its strengths in research dissemination.
Building on the work of the NIHR Dissemination Centre and NIHR INVOLVE, the new Centre will lead NIHR’s work to make health and care research representative, relevant and ready for use.
The NIHR Centre for Engagement and Dissemination will further enhance the strong collaborative culture already established in engaging with patients, service users, carers and the public across the NIHR, providing coordination and thought leadership across the health and care system.
Dr Louise Wood CBE, Director of Science, Research and Evidence at the Department of Health and Social Care, said: “The NIHR’s commitment to engaging patients, carers and the public is as strong as ever. I believe that bringing together NIHR’s research dissemination activities with its leading role in patient and community engagement will help ensure that we strengthen the way research serves the needs of patients and those of the health and care system.
“By working together with individuals, groups and communities across the health and care system, we will maximise the relevance, reach and impact of our research.”
The new Centre will focus on four key areas of activity:
- Learning and capacity development for public and patient contributors, public contribution leads, researchers and evidence users
- Building and stimulating an evidence user community
- Producing accessible and audience-targeted evidence resources and sharing them across a broad stakeholder community
- Running a series of innovation projects to harness the best engagement and dissemination ideas coming from the community.
These activities will be underpinned by engaging with patients, care users and the public throughout - as individuals, groups or communities.
The Centre will be led by the new NIHR Director for Public Voice, Jeremy Taylor OBE.
Jeremy Taylor is a former researcher, civil servant and charity leader. From 2009 to 2019, he was Chief Executive of the charity coalition National Voices, where he championed the vital contribution of patients and the public to decisions in health.
Jeremy said: “There has never been a more important time for health and care research to be shaped by what matters to people and to be translated into action that improves and sustains health and care. I am delighted to be joining the NIHR to lead the new Centre and this vital work”.
To coincide with the launch of the new Centre, the NIHR has also established a new website - NIHR Evidence.
NIHR Evidence presents high quality summaries of findings from health and care research, making research informative, accessible, relevant and ready for use for all.
The new evidence resources that will be available on NIHR Evidence are:
- Alerts: Short summaries of the latest health research presented in plain English, to promote the use of research to improve health and care
- Collections: Overviews of recent research on topics or themes highlighted as important by members of the community
- Themed reviews: Specially created reviews of recent research on topics of strategic importance for the UK health and social care system
Explore NIHR Evidence at www.evidence.nihr.ac.uk and on Twitter at @NIHRevidence.
You can get in touch with the new Centre on: ced@nihr.ac.uk.