Loughborough University’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences is set to benefit from funding to support initiatives to involve patients and the public in its research.
The School is working with one of ten patient and public involvement (PPI) groups to be awarded funding from the East Midlands Academic Health Sciences Network (EMAHSN). The funding aims to help promote patient, carer and public involvement in healthcare delivery and health research across the region.
The bursary awarded to the ‘Physical Activity Behaviour Changers’ group will support the development of research into diet, physical activity and lifestyle within the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences. It will help strengthen and broaden collaboration between the School and the local community for the benefit of the community and current and future students.
EMAHSN launched the fund three years ago as it recognised that PPI groups, all of which operate on a voluntary basis, can find it difficult to cover basic costs such as travel and members’ out-of-pocket expenses.
Mike Hannay, Managing Director of EMAHSN, said that just small amounts of funding can make a big difference and help ensure these essential groups can continue to thrive.
“Patient and Public Involvement groups are at the very heart of health service improvement. The East Midlands has a great network made up of many hundreds of volunteers who commit their time to making sure that patients are listened to and that their experiences, ideas and feedback are taken on board by healthcare organisations.”
Professor Mark Lewis, Dean of the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, commented: “We are very pleased to hear the successful outcome of this funding initiative which will support collaborative research within the School and the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine based at Loughborough University.”
Professor David Stensel, Associate Dean for Research within the School, added: “The funding will increase opportunities to involve the community with our research. We look forward to working together with the group on future projects.”
Find out more about patient and public involvement at the NCSEM-EM.