2 February 2024. WBI is in the Raising Voices in Research Project with Action Hampshire to introduce harder-to-access communities to health and care research. We started this work in November-December last year to outline and demystify community research over two workshops. Our goal is to increase minority and migrant participation in community research and use findings to improve public health services.
Raising Voices in Research is a project funded by NHS England to increase community involvement in health and care research, especially participation by underserved and underrepresented communities.
WBI was selected as a project partner for our work with ethnic minorities in Portsmouth and also our strong research competencies. We joined the project as a member of Action Hampshire, a non-profit organisation working with the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in the Hampshire area.
This project is part of WBI’s ongoing commitment as a social enterprise to build a responsible economy from the ground up, by piloting how businesses can contribute to reduce health inequalities in the community.
In collaboration with University of Winchester, University of Southampton, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board and the NIHR Clinical Research Network Wessex, the project targets health inequalities by increasing a participatory, inclusive approach in public health research.
The goal of our two workshops in November and December 2023, was to demystify health and social care research and help identify the barriers that prevent migrant participation in public health research.
Participants from Nigeria, Uganda, Egypt and Afghanistan spoke of language barriers, lack of information and awareness.
Some participants also spoke of the challenges of being new to the city and the sense that their opinions do not matter. While these were listed as some of the obstacles preventing their meaningful participation in research projects, many also expressed the desire to contribute to new findings and to society more widely.
As part of their motivation to attend the workshops, participants cited the wish to learn more about potentially working for and with the NHS, improving skills, increasing knowledge and sharing their views on the current provision of public health.
The workshop outlined the benefits of getting involved in health and care research to:
- learn more about a personal condition or a condition affecting loved ones;
- access new treatments or to take an active role in one’s own care;
- help improve health and social care provided by the NHS and others;
- help shape what research gets done, how the research is carried out, and share research findings and how it is applied in practice;
- meet new people and improving social inclusion in the community; and
- enhance CV by learning new skills and training.
Through an interactive slideshow presented at one of the workshops, we helped to debunk some myths concerning health and care research. Some of the misconceptions we heard were that health and social care:
- “means taking [medication] or being injected with something”;
- “only takes place in the hospital”; or
- “only involves physical diseases; it cannot help with mental health.”
Participants reported feeling better informed at the end of the session, noting the group discussion, team work, and the diversity of viewpoints expressed as particularly useful.
“I learned and understood how research is done because we discussed different issues, for example how to be part of the NHS organisation and more.”
“I found the workshop sessions very useful because they helped me build more trust by tackling misinformation and providing useful facts. I learned that taking part in research is not harmful, but rather it can improve health outcomes.”
– participants feedback
First step must be the inclusion of views by marginalised communities whose voices may not be easily captured. We are proud of this work and will continue in the next phase of the research to contribute to shaping the delivery of public health through accurate and inclusive community research.
We look forward to the next phase of collaboration with Action Hampshire and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board in their commitment to work closely with voluntary organisations to make services work better for everyone in our local communities.
