BU Research Blog

VOICE is an exciting new digital platform for coordinating and supporting public involvement in research.  BU has been awarded a licence of one year to trial and develop content on the platform.

We have used this opportunity to bring together the different teams working in BU to coordinate public involvement in research under the banner of VOICE@BU

VOICE@BU includes:

• Mel Hughes, Pete Atkins and Angela Warren from the BU PIER Partnership
• Helen Allen and Louise Ward from BUCRU and the NIHR Research Design Service South West (RDS SW)
• Colleagues from the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences based research centres e.g. ADRC
• Colleagues from BU Research Development & Support (RDS) Team (for coordinating public engagement)

On 11^th and 18^th May we ran two information events to explain VOICE@BU in more detail and provided a demonstration.  One event for researchers, you can view the recording here and one event for members of the public and community organisations.  Both events were well attended and both researchers and public contributors were keen to be involved.

Evidence shows that involving the public in the development of research at all stages of the research cycle ensures that research is relevant, participant friendly, ethically sound and improves outcomes for patients and service users.  We are committed to increasing the range of voices that help shape and inform health and social care research at BU.

To summarise, researchers can:

• Easily and quickly register for VOICE
• Submit an opportunity request to involve members of the public in their research
• Use the digital tools the platform offers to involve members of the public in research
• Promote workshops/focus groups
• Facilitate online discussions
• Promote opportunities for the public to join steering groups
• Online surveys & polls
• Set timed challenges and encourage ideas from the community
• Set up a closed group to communicate, share documents and support an established public involvement group
• Communicate with VOICE members regarding specific opportunities
• Access and share support and learning resources (From June) to help patient and public involvement and engagement activities

Please do register with VOICE and explore what is available and email us: voice@bournemouth.ac.uk to discuss how we can help get the public involved in your research and/or promote an event/opportunity to VOICE members.