It’s important to consider how your research can best meet the needs of those you hope will benefit from it. You can do this by asking people with lived experience (such as your participants or patients themselves, a group of people like them, or their carers) what is important to them. Then you can build these perspectives into your research from the very beginning. You can involve people with lived experience informally using existing opportunities, like asking questions about your research during clinic sessions, or more formally in dedicated focus groups.
Researchers new to health research can be surprised by the priorities that people with lived experience identify as important.
You can find out more about involving patients and the public in your research on the co-production in research page, or if you are developing a product, EPSRC’s stakeholder engagement: Patients and the public information. The Health Research Authority (HRA), the regulator for research in the NHS in England, has more information on public involvement in research.