Research Better Together

Here are some of our findings to date.

Scoping current practice in the Birmingham Social Care VCFSE Sector. A report by BVSC

A report by Co-Production Works on Social Care Participatory Research and Education in Birmingham’s Universities

Citizen Leadership and Integrated Care Report (warwick.ac.uk)

IMPACT Centre

LYPSA: Improving LGBTQ+ Young People's Experiences of Social Care - University of Birmingham

Older People: Care and Self-Funding Experiences

Social Work with Older People Research (SWOP)

Understanding the Social Care Assessment Journey of Older LGBTQ+ People - University of Birmingham

Why are we stuck in hospital? - University of Birmingham

Some case studies of VCSEs that are working in a participatory way are provided in the BVSC report. These organisations include:

• At Pace CIC
• BVSC
• Comunicate2U
  
• Resources for Autism

Community Engagement: An Exploration - Overview | Rise 360 (articulate.com)

Dementia Enquirers

Disability Rights UK

Improving Engagement | Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (bvsc.org)

Inclusive Involvement - Shaping Our Lives

National Survivor User Network (NSUN)

Powys Mental Health Blog: Shared Power - an introduction. This includes a film about sharing power.

Resources to support involvement in research | ARC South London (nihr.ac.uk)

The Co-Production Collective

The Co-Production Collective Resource Library

The Social Care Institute for Excellence webpages on co-production (Co-production | SCIE)

Think Local Act Personal

UK Standards for Public Involvement (INVOLVE)

Involving and engaging carers in research

NIHR public contributor payment policy

NIHR payment guide for organisations

NIHR Payment guide for researchers looking to include public involvement

NIHR Learning for Involvement

Public Involvement in Social Care Research

Research Design Service Public Involvement West Midlands also include lots of helpful links and information about public involvement in research such as how to apply for funding to include public contributors in your research bid.

Research in Wider Care and Communities

Social care resources

Community Research and Engagement Network (COREN - NIHR)

University of Sheffield Participatory Research Network

University of Glasgow Public Engagement Network

Working with the voluntary sector to improve public involvement (learningforinvolvement.org.uk) Wessex Public Involvement Network

Public involvement and lay accountability in research and innovation West Midlands (PILAR)

University of Birmingham Adult Social Care Cluster & Lived Experience Panel

Storytelling through the arts Homepage - Why Cant We Dream and Working With The Arts - Why Cant We Dream

Collective zines It’s Our Story: Families’ Lived experience during the Pandemic - Covid Realities

Using photovoice Using Photovoice as a Method for Capturing the Lived Experiences of Caregivers During COVID-19: A Methodological Insight - PMC (nih.gov)

Creative arts based workshops Community-led research highlights inequality in cancer care for disabled people | Bournemouth University

Participatory Arts in Health and Care Research - Made by Mortals Innovative arts approaches with research groups and underrepresented communities across the Northwest to change how public engagement is done.

Here is an example of how ballet has been used in an inclusive way to disseminate the findings from a research project on people’s experiences of access to care services.

Sea of Words Ballet (Video)

The project aims to build capacity and knowledge exchange in participatory research among health and social care researchers and voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations (VCSEs) in Birmingham.

In stage 1 (Jan – Oct 2022) the project:

• Mapped participatory research and education in Birmingham.
• Delivered training for researchers and VCSOs in creative participatory research methods and approaches.
• Facilitated peer learning and support for researchers and VCSOs in Birmingham through webinars and a networking workshop.

In stage 2 (Mar 2023 - May 2024) the project connected and provided practical support to social care researchers and VCSEs in Birmingham to engage in participatory research by:

• Delivering training for VCSEs and academic researchers in participatory research, focusing on engaging communities, evidencing impact and creative methodologies.
• Providing mentorship to small teams of academic researchers and VCSEs to co-design and co-deliver social care focused research projects or bids that include people with lived experience of care.

In Stage 3 (Oct 2024 – Dec 2025), the newly funded ‘Research Better Together 2025’ programme provides access to:

• Training for academic and VCSEs
• Mentoring and support to develop research-based collaborations, produce research proposals, and apply for funding
• Grants of up to £8,000 to support new collaborations and the inclusion of people with lived experience and communities in co-production activity
• Access to a Community of Practice with other VCFSE and researcher collaborations to share ideas and learn

The beneficiaries and benefits of this project include:

• Academic researchers, who will develop a stronger understanding of participatory research methodologies, and have access to a wider network of local organisations and co-researchers that can be embedded within research design and delivery;
• VCSOs, who will benefit from peer learning, training and networking with other VCSOs and academic researchers to support future partnerships and the creation of a more inclusive research environments;
• People with lived experience of care, who will benefit from new opportunities to co-produce research with academics and VSCOs, and in turn enable a better understanding of social care delivery.