Last year, INVOLVE produced a briefing on the values and principles for learning and development. The briefing reminds us of the key concepts of respect, support, transparency, responsiveness, fairness of opportunity and accountability which are central for this type of learning.
- What does this mean for the public and researchers learning and developing their thinking around involvement in research?
- What might facilitators need to consider when planning, preparing and providing workshops and events?
Enjoyable: Public involvement should be agreeable and informative. It should encourage a sense of discovery and plug into the enquiring mind. The activities should be about problem solving and shared endeavour.
Face to Face: An essential characteristic for good involvement - for researchers to actually meet with patients and for us to meet with those working in research. Later on it is acceptable to communicate through email or social media. It is a relationship and that should be built on mutual respect.
Hands on: This is 'experiential learning'. We learn from each other and between different meetings. We are not trying to be researchers but we are keen to understand things when we need to learn them.
Interactive: We need to learn from those working in and with communities. opportunity to meet and work with different people. For example, I began this journey in the world of cancer but have learned more through the interaction with other patient communities.
Relevant - This is how we make it of value to research. Those who are facilitating need to ask searching questions to ensure that all participants gain from the learning.
What do YOU think of these features?
Are they important for your learning?
Do you think these make for effective learning and development?