Consumer-Led Codesign of an Effective Online Consumer and Community Involvement Audit Tool

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Community Engagement in Research
• Health Equity

Background:

• Consumer and community involvement (CCI) enhances health research quality and outcomes.
• Limited support exists for organizations to effectively plan, implement, and evaluate CCI.
• A need for standardized tools to measure the extent and nature of CCI in various settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To codesign an audit tool for measuring consumer and community involvement (CCI) in health research.
• To enable organizations, researchers, community members, and funders to assess CCI.
• To base the tool on the Western Australian Health Translation Network's CCI Handbook.

Main Methods:

• Online workshops were conducted to inform participants about the study.
• Feedback on the audit tool's appropriateness was gathered from 11 participants.
• Qualtrics surveys assessed the tool's quality and effectiveness with 17 participants (researchers, funders, community member).

Main Results:

• Participants responded positively, finding value in quantifying CCI implementation.
• Identified gaps include addressing health/research literacy and culturally responsive approaches.
• A need for enhanced visual and digital resources to support CCI was noted.

Conclusions:

• The audit tool helps identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improving CCI.
• It supports the meaningful involvement of community members in research.
• The tool aids in promoting equity within research processes.