Public and Patient Engagement

Talking to local communities about their health needs and service demands has become increasingly important for all NHS bodies. Effective research which links the NHS, community members, and other stakeholders, can empower public and patients to influence the decisions which shape their local health services.

Ipsos MORI are now working with many PCTs, Acute Trusts and SHAs  to capture the views of their local populations, not only to measure perceptions but also gain insight into underlying drivers of these perceptions. Our breadth of experience and in depth understanding means that Ipsos MORI is a very well placed to partner your organisation to engage with your local population. Ways of engaging include:

• Surveys allow you to talk to a representative sample of your population and understand views and perceptions about key issues and priorities statistically - so what proportion of your population would support a particular service change in principle. Surveys also allow you to understand geographically where service needs lie in your local population.
• Discussion groups and depth interviews allow you to get behind the perceptions and understand why people think in the way that they do. This is particularly useful when designing and/or making changes to services.
• Peer research uses local people as researchers, talking to people within their own social network. Peer research is most useful when trying to engage with your ‘hard to reach’ populations where cultural barriers may mean that conventional research techniques are not appropriate.

Deliberative workshops. Increasingly, we’re finding NHS clients want more sustained and deliberative forms of public consultation to get closer to the attitudes, experiences and expectations of service users. The day-long or evening events allow us to deliver information, take participants on a journey and do justice to complex or critical decisions.