The Centre and our team help to address one of the most frequently voiced criticisms leveled at research and health organisations by BME groups, namely poor levels of involvement of multi-ethnic populations and feedback given to BME communities in research and consultations in which they have been involved.
A core aspect of work is to inspire, support and equip researchers to develop a culture of practice in which collaborative research with BME communities becomes the norm rather than an exception. We support researchers to achieve this by using a combination of approaches for engagement. This may include signposting and/or using our collective experience and expertise to guide individual researchers, research teams or groups of researchers at all stages of the research process. Throughout these stages of research, we encourage researchers to identify and integrate opportunities for BME communities to engage in research at a public involvement level, as research participants and in dissemination and implementation
The Centre also utilises a number of strategies to support the recruitment of BME people and their involvement in the entire research process. These include:
- Innovative methods of involvement
- Key contacts with researchers with direct experience of engaging BME communities
- Access and support to our Community Engagement workers working within and with BME communities
- Resources detailing effective BME involvement and lessons learnt from direct experience of involvement in BME communities