Societal engagement Archives - Patient Experience Research Centre

Developing a new technology to diagnose a virus that can lead to disabilities in new born babies

17 January 2023

This entry is part 8 of 11 in the series People's Research Cafe at the Great Exhibition Road Festival 2022

This blog is part of a series showcasing the People’s Research Cafe which took place on the 18th and 19th June 2022 in South Kensington, London as part of the Great Exhibition Road Festival.

What is a People’s Research Café?

The People’s Research Cafe is a café with a twist. Visitors are welcomed to sit down at a table co-hosted by an Imperial College researcher and a public contributor whose role is to help the conversation flow freely. Over a free hot drink, visitors find out about the researcher’s project and will be asked for their opinions on it.

The potential for public involvement in health research in Singapore: Reflections on culture and practice

Will Kendall

4 February 2019

By Lidia Luna Puerta (@L_Luna_P)

Over the last 20 years, Singapore has become a medical research hub with global reach. The current focus is placed on translational research to close the gap between basic clinical research and patient care. Despite the growing worldwide adoption of public involvement in research, the role of Singaporeans in research is still limited.

I am a third year PhD Candidate at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, exploring the potential for public involvement (PPI) in research in Singapore. Co-supervised by Professor Helen Ward, Director of the Patient Experience Research Centre (PERC), I have been working with PERC to learn from their wide experience in building capacity for public involvement amongst researchers and members of the public.

Our top five blogs of 2018

Will Kendall

19 December 2018

This entry is part [part not set] of 0 in the series Case studies

By Professor Helen Ward

Director, Imperial Patient Experience Research Centre

Imperial Patient Experience Research Centre, aka PERC, started blogging about 18 months ago with this Welcome to our Blog post. The blog was set up to “share the latest learnings and news from the PPI community, points of views from the team on the advances and issues of public involvement, case studies of good involvement practice to inspire new ideas, and a whole host of other top tips and personal pointers”.

Since then we’ve published 25 blogs, ranging from case studies of good practice and opinion pieces, through to notices about events, training, and top tips for applicants for our grants scheme.

Case study #8: Hackathons as a method for co-developing novel research tools

Will Kendall

10 April 2018

This entry is part [part not set] of 0 in the series Case studies

In conversation with: Thibaut Jombart, Lecturer in Genetic Analysis

Working within: HPRU (Modelling Methodology)

What did you do?

I organised a hackathon (i.e. a coding workshop) called ‘Hackout 3’, which was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU). The event brought together epidemiologists, stakeholders from public health institutions, and members of the public (professional computer programmers) to develop new statistical tools for disease outbreak analysis and response.

Using social media to engage the public in your research

Will Kendall

5 April 2018

In this guest blog, Imperial‘s Cathy Thomas offers advice on how to use social media to engage (and involve!) the public in your research. What have your experiences with using social media for engagement been? Share your experiences in the comments.

Why bother with social media?

There are over one billion active users on Facebook and over 100 million monthly Instagram users – which means that if you’re looking to connect with members of the public, it’s worth considering how social media and other digital tools could support or enhance your engagement activity.

The useful thing about social media is that it’s a discursive medium that encourages sharing and participation, so rather than simply using it as a tool to promote what you’re doing, there will be ways in which it can support two-way engagement.

Take your research to QPR Football Club

Will Kendall

14 February 2018

Find out how Imperial researchers can engage the public in their work at QPR’s annual Community Day.