USER PARTICIPATION IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE RESEARCH

'This is a timely book, given the increasing emphasis on user participation in both research and health and social service provision, that can be read in conjunction with a more general book on research...' - David Hicks, Liverpool John Moores University, UK. User participation in research is still in its relative infancy with many practical, ethical, moral, methodological and philosophical questions unanswered. This text gathers together an international set of authors to explore these issues and begin to forge some practical solutions to each of these concerns.The book includes contributions on the use and application of narrative approaches, intervention and evaluation research, methodological development and quality thresholds. It provides a practical framework for all groups wishing to undertake research based on the principles and values of user participation. The book is structured around ten original case studies which explore the use of participatory methods in practice with a variety of groups across diverse health, social care and community settings. These include older people, including those with dementia, people with learning disability, mental health service users and their carers, and children and young people. Unique and often groundbreaking studies from Australia, Sweden, the UK, and the USA are used to illustrate application of theory to research practice.In addition the text: considers the issues, challenges and rewards of user participation research; draws on the actual experience of doing research and working with users; includes the voices and contributions of users in reporting research. "User Participation in Health and Social Care Research: Voices, Values and Evaluation" is key reading for students, researchers, practitioners and users themselves wishing to undertake participative research involving service users.

Gordon Grant holds a Research Chair in Cognitive Disability in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sheffield, and Doncaster and South Humber Healthcare NHS Trust. His main interests concern family caregiving of vulnerable groups and the support needs of people with severe and complex learning disabilities.
John Keady is Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Wales, Bangor. John's main interests are in the needs of people with dementia and their carers' and service responses to these needs.
Ulla Lundh is Docent and Senior Lecturer at the Unversity of Linkoping, Sweden. She has particular interests in the needs of older people and their carers and has been engaged in several studies that have sought to develop partnerships between family and formal caregiving systems.
Mike Nolan is Professor of Gerontological Nursing at the Unversity of Sheffield. He has long-standing interests in the needs of family carers and of vulnerable older people in a range of care environments, and has published extensively in these areas.