Kent and Medway have been awarded £100,000 of national funding to establish a Community Research Engagement Network. The project brings together a ‘Joint Research Collaborative’ made up of specialists from universities, the National Institute of Health and care Research, the NHS and local authority partners. They will work alongside voluntary and community sector leaders to develop a Community Research Engagement Network.
The aim of the network is to increase participation in research by local people. Four area-based health alliances will work with key voices from local communities, to be trained and supported in research skills. The group will explore the benefits of engagement and participation in research with different communities and make sure that we are hearing from diverse voices when looking at research for health purposes. The Community Research Engagement Network will identify barriers to, and opportunities for research engagement, and jointly address these.
Steve Fenlon, Deputy Chief Medical Officer at NHS Kent and Medway said, “Making sure that we have representation from, and hear the voices of as many communities as possible is critical to understand how the way we deliver health care can impact and affect different communities and individuals. We saw through Covid-19 that some of our communities were impacted more than others and one way to address these inequalities is to make sure everything we do is based on research that includes everyone”.
Claudia Sykes, VCSE lead for the programme said, “I am delighted that the Kent and Medway voluntary sector is involved in this project. Much of the work done by the voluntary sector focuses on people from more deprived communities, who often are not represented within traditional engagement and research activities. This innovative project will link professional research teams into local communities.”
A spokesperson for Kent County Council said, “We continually seek opportunities for improvement and innovation of our services, and research is key in this. We are delighted to be one of the lead partners in the Community Research Engagement Network (CREN) programme that will lead to closer collaboration between communities, academics, and researchers. The partnership will lead to the development of projects that are of benefit to all of our communities.”
Regular events and activities, led by the VCSE alliances and Joint Research Collaborative (JRC) will be held over until the end of March 2024.
If you are interested in becoming part of the network or would like further information please contact Lily Keck, l.keck@sekgroup.org.uk