You're invited to join two exciting community celebration events hosted by the research and innovation team of Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust.
Join us to learn about how your feedback and involvement can benefit a whole range of research projects and ensure health-related research is tailored to get the best, accurate results from local communities which may not always feel heard.
To help explain how everyone has a role to play in contributing to research, two celebration events are being hosted in March to which all are invited. It marks the culmination of an 18-month research project looking at how under-served communities can be included more systematically in research affecting health services and health provision.
These events offer an excellent opportunity to meet new people, enjoy refreshments and discover how research can make a meaningful difference in all our communities.
Why This Project Matters
Health is not fair—where people live, their socioeconomic status, and their background all influence their health outcomes. In Derbyshire, there is an 18-year gap in the number of years of good health a person can expect between the most and least deprived areas. Factors such as income, education, employment, and access to healthcare all contribute to these inequalities.
Underserved communities—such as ethnic minorities, rural populations, individuals with disabilities, and those facing financial insecurity—are often excluded from health research. This exclusion means their needs and experiences are not fully understood, leading to healthcare services and treatments that do not work for everyone.
This project aims to rebalance health inequalities by engaging directly with underserved groups, identifying barriers to research participation, and developing solutions to ensure fair representation. By improving access to research, we can create more inclusive healthcare policies and interventions that benefit everyone, not just the most privileged.
Background
Derbyshire, in the East Midlands, has a population of approximately 811,500 and covers 983 square miles, comprising both urban and rural areas. While urban centres provide better access to services, rural regions face infrastructure and transport challenges that impact healthcare accessibility. Multiple deprivation is prevalent, particularly in former coalfield areas, contributing to significant health inequalities. Chesterfield ranks above the national average in deprivation, which is measured through key factors such as income, employment, health, education, and housing.
This project focuses on the most deprived 20% of Derbyshire’s 491 Lower-Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs), ensuring a balance between urban and rural communities. People in these areas experience barriers to healthcare and research participation, limiting representation in studies and reinforcing inequalities. Additionally, underserved groups—including ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and those with unstable housing or income—face systemic obstacles that further hinder their involvement in research.
Project Aims
- Engage with underserved communities to explore their perspectives on health research.
- Identify barriers to research participation and develop solutions for equitable representation.
- Create practical guidelines to improve engagement with underrepresented groups.
Rationale for the Project
Health research is often biased, with white and male participants overrepresented. White British individuals are 64% more likely to participate in research than ethnic minorities, and women—especially from ethnic minorities—are underrepresented. To ensure research is robust and applicable, it must include diverse populations.
Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE)
PPIE ensures research is meaningful and relevant to those who typically do not participate. Early involvement of patients and the public helps refine research questions, improve study design, and enhance inclusivity. The Health Research Authority emphasises that public involvement means conducting research "with" or "by" the public rather than "to" or "for" them. This approach improves research quality, fosters trust, and ensures findings address real-world needs. Leading organisations such as the British Heart Foundation and NHS England highlight the benefits of PPIE in creating patient-centred research with tangible, impactful outcomes.
By improving inclusivity and accessibility in research, this project aims to reduce disparities and ensure healthcare studies reflect the needs of all communities.
The Haven Community Centre
8 Station Road, Barrow Hill, Chesterfield, S43 2NL
Thursday 13 March 2025 | 3:30pm – 6:30pm.
The Hub @ Lower Pavement
61 Low Pavement, Chesterfield, S40 1PB
Friday 14 March 2025 | 4pm – 6pm.
Who should attend?
This event welcomes:
- Local residents, families, and friends.
- Health and social care colleagues.
- Anyone interested in research and community engagement.
What to expect?
- Learn about local research opportunities.
- Enjoy complimentary refreshments, including hot & cold drinks, sandwiches, cakes and fruit.
- Watch a short video presentation about the ‘Join in with Research’ project.
- Connect with fellow attendees and build new relationships.
- Participate in our raffle for a chance to win exciting prizes!
Accessibility and support:
- We are committed to making our event accessible to everyone:
- Both venues are wheelchair accessible and designed to be inclusive and safe spaces for all.
If you have specific accessibility needs or require assistance getting to the venue, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
These events mark the conclusion of an extended research project to look specifically at how to increase research participation in under-served communities. The research and innovation team of Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust was awarded a £25,480 grant in September 2024 from the Clinical Research Network/Research Delivery Network enabling them to extend their health inequalities project looking at increasing diversity in research until March 2025. It follows the success of the first phase of their project, for which the team was awarded over £32,000.
Vicky Davison and Tracey Elder originally applied for funding from January 2024 to September 2024 for completion of a public and patient involvement and engagement project. During the first phase of the work, they interviewed 108 people, asking about their experience of research and what the barriers and solutions are to help them to take part.
Since October 2024 the team has been refining their findings into a set of principles or guidelines to begin to support under-served communities to be included in research that can then be tested in Derbyshire. These guidelines will be shared at the celebration events in Chesterfield in March.
Tracey Elder, on behalf of the research and innovation team, said:
“This extra funding has given us the opportunity to continue working with the amazing people we’ve met as part of this project. We hope that many of the same people will join us at the celebration events in March where we can show how their involvement has helped to inform the guidelines we’ve developed to help researchers in the future. The guidelines are designed to ensure researchers are reaching traditionally under-served communities in future research projects, which in turn will lead to service developments which serve people well.”