WCVA delivers support and funding for people to get involved in Health and Social Care Research
Involving People has been set up to support and encourage the involvement of patients, carers, service users and members of the public in health and social care research in Wales. Committed to the fair active involvement of people in research, Involving People is providing support and funding to ensure that the input from those getting involved is acknowledged fairly.
Funded by Wales Office for Research and Development in Health and Social Care (WORD), Involving People is a partnership between WCVA, Clinical Research Collaboration Cymru (CRC Cymru) and School of Health Science, Swansea University.
Involving People works with researchers and helps to coordinate opportunities for patients, carers, service users and members of the public to get involved in research. By involvement in research it means active involvement, where people are not just the subjects of research but are working with researchers to plan, manage, carry out and present research.
‘We believe that involving people leads to research that is more relevant to people’s needs and concerns, is more reliable and is more likely to be used to improve health and social care’, said Involving People Officer Natalie Simon.
Involving People provides researchers with information, advice and training to ensure that they are following good practice when involving people in their work. And it provides its network of patients, carers, service users and members of the public with information and training to ensure that they are prepared to get involved.
‘We support fair active involvement of people in research. Our recommendation is that people should receive, at the least, reimbursement of any expenses to enable them to get involved, and should receive honorarium for time where appropriate and possible.
‘From experience, Involving People recognises the difficulties regarding reimbursement of expenses and payment for time. For example some institutes, including some universities can take six weeks or longer to process and reimburse expenses, and/or provide payment for time. And payment for time often requires those getting involved to register as a member of staff, which can cause difficulties where people are receiving benefits.’
With these things in mind, Involving People has developed the Enabling Involvement Fund, delivered through WCVA, to provide funding for the fair active involvement of people in research development groups in health and social care in Wales.
Available for research approved for the CRC Cymru portfolio (projects that have received peer review and have been funded through open national competition), the Enabling Involvement Fund can deliver the reimbursement of expenses, including travel and replacement care costs, to those who are getting involved. It can also deliver payment for time (honorarium), to those getting involved. And delivery of these payments will be within ten working days of receipt of claim forms. The fund can also deliver advance payment to enable reimbursement of expenses in cash at the meeting (available where host institutions are able to provide an appropriate petty cash system).
Bryan Collis, Associate Director for Involving People said: ‘The fund, supported by CRC Cymru and WORD, aims to meet an important need for people getting involved in research: prompt payment of expenses and reduced red tape.’
For further information please contact Natalie Simon, Involving People Officer
nsimon@wcva.org.uk, 029 2043 1771, www.involvingpeople.org.uk
