Peer researchers in NHS research: approved in principle, undermined in practice?

QUAHRC PhD student Bryher Bowness has published a blog alongside colleagues about the challenges of integrating peer researchers into work in the NHS. 

You can read the blog here, and get a taster below.

Bryher Bowness, a PhD student at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London (IoPPN), and Peter Bates, a Public Involvement Facilitator and Consultant, have been working with the Joint Research and Development Office (R&D) of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) and the IoPPN, to highlight persisting organisational barriers to involving non-salaried, public contributors (i.e. peer researchers) in healthcare research.

In their recently published paper, Bryher, Peter and the Joint R&D Office reflect on potential systemic inequalities that were revealed by trying to involve a peer researcher in cofacilitating focus groups, and propose some solutions.    

Our experience

Our reflective case study explores some of the challenges of trying to involve a family carer (who we will now call a peer researcher) as a cofacilitator, when conducting focus groups as part of my PhD. The peer researcher and I codesigned the study, which entailed cofacilitating online focus groups with other family carers who had attended courses in Recovery Colleges across England.

Some Recovery Colleges are part of NHS mental health services and to be able to gather data from NHS service users, we had to apply to the Joint R&D Office of SLaM and IoPPN, who then undertook the relevant checks on members of the research team.

The process was much more difficult than anticipated and over time, this caused frustrating delays and offence to the peer researcher, which unfortunately but understandably led to her deciding to leave involvement in the research world. She supports our endeavours to continue working to address exclusion and inequality in involvement practices in healthcare research.

Continued here.