Run by NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre
Are you planning on using a focus group with patients or members of the public as part of your PPI program? We can help prepare you!
About this event
Sessions are free for students and staff from the NIHR, NHS, UK universities, public sector institutions and registered charities based in the UK. Please USE a work-associated work email to register (e.g. .nhs.uk, .ac.uk etc.). This session is not suitable for researchers from the private sector. Please contact the organiser if you have any further questions.
Focus groups can be a great way to support discussion about your research with a group of interested people as a way of involving them in your research. However, for everyone to get the most out of the experience planning and preparation is important!
We will look at how focus/discussion groups can be useful for PPI, when they might not be appropriate and how to plan, organise and follow up a successful session.
This session will particularly suit research or PPI staff who are planning to run focus groups for the first time with patients, carers or members of the public about their health research.
We will cover:
- When focus groups are useful for PPI and situations where they may not be
- Online and face to face focus groups
- What preparations to make in advance
- Making discussion as accessible as possible
- How to facilitate and keep things 'on track'
- Assessing the discussions and diverse responses
- Reporting PPI findings in a meaningful way
We will be joined by a member of the Cambridge University Hospitals PPI panel to share their experience of being involved in focus groups, and there will be plenty of time for Q&A at the end.
Please note we work on PPI with adults; what's discussed can relate to all audiences; however, we do not specifically cover PPI with children or young people.