Welcome to Module 1! Over the next 4 modules, you'll focus on how citizens and patients can be involved in research from the researcher side. You'll explore participation across and within the research cycle (as we refer to it) in more detail, specifically, what kinds of participatory approaches can be undertaken at each of the 7 stages of the research cycle. Although these modules have a public health focus, the approaches and ways of involving citizens and patients across and within the research cycle apply to other disciplines and kinds of research too (even basic research – although it can be slightly more challenging!). First, you need to be clear about the definitions we use, so let’s start there.

Welcome to Module 2. You will now dive down into participatory approaches taken in the UK in publicly funded health research which are framed around the 7 stages of the ‘research cycle’ (as we call it). You will learn why involving citizens and patients in research is valuable, how you might go about involving people at the different stages of the research cycle and hear about case studies and examples of how this has been done in the real world. In Lesson 1, you will look at the role of public involvement and co-production throughout the first stage of the research cycle (Identifying and Prioritising), review some methodologies which can be used to identify and prioritise research topics and hear about some examples. In Lesson 2, you will look at the role of public involvement and co-production throughout the second stage (Designing and Managing) and third stage (Funding and Commissioning) of the research cycle and hear about how citizens and patients have been involved at these stages.

Welcome to Module 3! In Lesson 1, you'll look at the role of public involvement and co-production throughout the fourth stage of the research cycle (Undertaking and Analysing). Qualitative research (collecting and analysing non-numerical data) might seem the most obvious kind of research in which to involve citizens and patients as co-researchers - e.g. in interviews and surveys. However, you're going to study some other examples where citizens and patients can inform the “doing” of research - for example, systematic reviews. In Lesson 2, you'll look at the role of public involvement and co-production throughout the fifth stage and the sixth stages of the research cycle (Disseminating) and (Implementing) respectively. You'll also hear about how citizens have been involved at these stages.

In this module, you will learn about the ways to evaluate public involvement and co-production in health research (stage 7 of the research cycle). Jack Jacques gives an interview in which he talks about his experience with evaluating the impact of public involvement - we encourage you to listen to this. You also have the opportunity to decide on an evaluation tool which can be applied to your own setting - you'll write a short summary justifying why you'd choose the tool and evaluating its strengths and limitations.