Accredited Training for User Involvement in Higher Education Teaching – Exploring an Innovative Training Programme in Public Involvement and Partnership Working

Authors

  • Clara Rübner Jørgensen Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, UK http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8387-4819
  • Judith Purkis Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick
  • Loraine Blaxter Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick
  • Susan Tulip University/User Teaching and Research Action Partnership, (UNTRAP)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18552/ijpblhsc.v4i2.369

Keywords:

assessment, diversity, Patient and Public Involvement (PPI), training for involvement, user-involvement

Abstract

This article discusses a six-day course designed to address the current gap in provision of structured, accredited training for service users wanting to contribute to Higher Education (HE) Health and Social Care Education through public involvement (PI). It discusses the views of the participants who completed the course on its perceived impact on their future practice and their opinions on formal accreditation in this context. The course was delivered by a team of service users and academics. It covered three domains of involvement in HE: teaching, research and governance. This article focuses particularly on involvement in teaching and learning activities, drawing on findings from a focus group with participants carried out after the completion of the course. Focus group participants discussed five main outcomes of the course: ‘new knowledge’, ‘new skills’, ‘confidence’, ‘personal capability and gratification’, and ‘added value on CVs or when applying for jobs’. They recognised the ‘challenges of accreditation’ but also felt that they had gained from the experience in terms of personal development, and in relation to what they would be able to bring to improve engagement with learners. As public involvement becomes increasingly mandatory and common, their experiences illustrate the key role of training for involvement in HE teaching activities to ensure that a more diverse group of users feel able to actively contribute. However, reflections on the development and delivery of the course also highlight some of the challenges involved, particularly in relation to assessment, time and funding.

Author Biographies

Clara Rübner Jørgensen, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, UK

Research Fellow, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick

Judith Purkis, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick

Principal Teaching Fellow, WMS, Mental Health & Wellbeing, Health Sciences. 

Susan Tulip, University/User Teaching and Research Action Partnership, (UNTRAP)

Service User representative, UNTRAP, WMS.

References

Baeten, M., Kyndt, E., Struyven, K., and Dochy, F. (2010) 'Using student-centred learning environments to stimulate deep approaches to learning: Factors encouraging or discouraging their effectiveness.' Educational Research Review, 5, 243–260 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2010.06.001

Beard, C. and Wilson, J.P. (2006) Experiential Learning: A Best Practice Handbook for Educators and Trainers, 2nd edn. London: Kogan Page

Beresford, P. (2007) 'User involvement, research and health inequalities: Developing new directions.' Health & Social Care in the Community, 15, 306–312 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2524.2007.00688.x

Branfield, F. (2009) Developing User Involvement in Social Work Education (Report No. 29), Workforce Development Report. London: Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)

Brett, J., Staniszewska, S., Mockford, C., Herron-Marx, S., Hughes, J., Tysall, C., and Suleman, R. (2014) 'Mapping the impact of patient and public involvement on health and social care research: A systematic review.' Health Expectations, 17, 637–650 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1369-7625.2012.00795.x

Broek, S. and Hake, B.J. (2012) 'Increasing participation of adults in higher education: Factors for successful policies.' International Journal of Lifelong Education, 31, 397–417 https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370.2012.663801

Bryman, A. (2016) ' Focus groups'. Chapter 21 in Social Research Methods. 5th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 500–524

Burell, H., Dixon, S., Douglas, V., Fletcher, A., Gildea, M., Read, S., and Vincent, P. (n.d.) Working Together - Service User and Carer Engagement in Health and Social Care: A Toolkit for Education, Research and Development. [online] available from http://www.serviceuserandcarertoolkit.co.uk/intro.html [14 December 16]

Cross, K.P. (1981) Adults as Learners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Dearnley, C., Coulby, C., Rhodes, C., Taylor, J., and Coates, C. (2011) 'Service users and carers: Preparing to be involved in work‐based practice assessment.' Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 48, 213–222 https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2011.564020

Dudley, L., Gamble, C., Allam, A., Bell, P., Buck, D., Goodare, H., Hanley, B., Preston, J., Walker, A., Williamson, P., and Young, B. (2015) 'A little more conversation please? Qualitative study of researchers’ and patients’ interview accounts of training for patient and public involvement in clinical trials.' Trials [online] 16, 190. available from https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-015-0667-4

El Enany, N., Currie, G., and Lockett, A. (2013) 'A paradox in healthcare service development: Professionalization of service users.' Social Science & Medicine, 80, 24–30 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.01.004

de Greef, M., Verté, D., and Segers, M. (2012) 'Evaluation of the outcome of lifelong learning programmes for social inclusion: A phenomenographic research.' International Journal of Lifelong Education, 31, 453–476 https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370.2012.663808

Gutteridge, R. and Dobbins, K. (2010) 'Service user and carer involvement in learning and teaching: A faculty of health staff perspective.' Nurse Education Today, 30, 509–514 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2009.10.019

Humphreys, C. (2005) 'Service user involvement in social work education: A case example.' Social Work Education, 24, 797–803 https://doi.org/10.1080/02615470500238710

INVOLVE (2012a) Developing Training and Support for Public Involvement in Research. Eastleigh, UK: INVOLVE

INVOLVE (2012b) Diversity and Inclusion: What’s it About and Why is it Important for Public Involvement in Research? Eastleigh, UK: INVOLVE

Jackson, A., Blaxter, L., and Lewando-Hundt, G. (2003) 'Participating in medical education: Views of patients and carers living in deprived communities.' Medical Education, 37, 532–538 https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2923.2003.01535.x

Jha, V., Quinton, N.D., Bekker, H.L., and Roberts, T.E. (2009) 'What educators and students really think about using patients as teachers in medical education: A qualitative study.' Medical Education, 43, 449–456 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2009.03355.x

Jonassen, D.H. and Land, S.M. (eds.) (2012) Theoretical foundations of learning environments, 2nd edn. New York: Routledge

Kolb, D.A. (2015) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. 2nd edn. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education

Krueger, R.A. and Casey, M.A. (2000) 'Moderating skills.' Chapter 5 in: Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research, 3rd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 97–124

Lathlean, J., Burgess, A., Coldham, T., Gibson, C., Herbert, L., Levett-Jones, T., Simons, L., and Tee, S. (2006) 'Experiences of service user and carer participation in health care education.' Nurse Education Today, 26, 732–737 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2006.07.017

Litosseliti, L. (2003) Using Focus Groups in Research. London: Continuum

Looney, J. (2008) Teaching, Learning and Assessment for Adults: Improving Foundation Skills. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Matka, E., River, D., Littlechild, R., and Powell, T. (2010) 'Involving service users and carers in admissions for courses in social work and clinical psychology: Cross-disciplinary comparison of practices at the University of Birmingham.' British Journal of Social Work, 40, 2137–2154 https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcp142

McGowan, J. (2010) 'John McGowan on service-user involvement.' Health Services Journal May, 15–16.

MHRN (Mental Health Research Network) (2011) Mental Health Researchers’ Tool Kit for Involving Service Users in the Research Process. London: MHRN

O’Keefe, M. and Jones, A. (2007) 'Promoting lay participation in medical school curriculum development: Lay and faculty perceptions.' Medical Education, 41, 130–137 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2929.2006.02666.x

Rees, C.E., Knight, L.V., and Wilkinson, C.E. (2007) '“User Involvement is a sine qua non, almost, in medical education”: Learning with rather than just about health and social care service users.' Advances in Health Sciences Education, 12, 359–390 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-006-9007-5

Rhodes, C.A. and Nyawata, I.D. (2011) 'Service user and carer involvement in student nurse selection: Key stakeholder perspectives.' Nurse Education Today, 31, 439–443 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2010.10.005

Rose, D. (2009) ‘Is collaborative research possible?' in Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research. ed. by Wallcraft, J., Schrank, B., and Amering, M. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 169-180

Thistlethwaite, J. (2015) 'Editorial: Where’s the patient’s voice in health professional education?' International Journal of Practice-based Learning in Health and Social Care [online] 3 (2), ii–iv. available from http://e-learning.coventry.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/pblh/issue/view/19

Young, P. (2000)' “I might as well give up”: Self-esteem and mature students’ feelings about feedback on assignments.' Journal of Further and Higher Education, 24, 409–418 https://doi.org/10.1080/030987700750022325

Downloads

Published

2016-12-15

How to Cite

Jørgensen, C. R., Purkis, J., Blaxter, L., & Tulip, S. (2016). Accredited Training for User Involvement in Higher Education Teaching – Exploring an Innovative Training Programme in Public Involvement and Partnership Working. International Journal of Practice-Based Learning in Health and Social Care, 4(2), 49–62. https://doi.org/10.18552/ijpblhsc.v4i2.369

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2016): International Journal of Practice-based Learning in Health and Social Care

Section

Research Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a  Creative Commons License "Attribution-NonCommercial No Derivs 4.0 International" (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) which permits others to use the publication as long as the authors are appropriately cited.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
  4. The Author grants to Coventry University an irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide, non-exclusive licence to publish this article in this journal in addition to the licence granted at paragraph 1 of this copyright notice.