Discover Your Role: the action plan putting Welsh people at the heart of public involvement

Health and Care Research Wales is continuing its commitment to improve public involvement through a new four-year action plan, Discover Your Role (DYR) 2.0.  

DYR 2.0 aims to boost involvement in research in Wales by helping public members and researchers overcome barriers to involvement. 

The communications, engagement and involvement team at Heath and Care Research Wales started DYR 2.0 in November 2023 and worked with over 180 people from different organisations in the process.  

It builds on DYR 1.0, the first plan of its kind in Wales, which was developed with researchers and public members from 2020 to 2024.  

Peter Gee, Senior Public Involvement Manager for Health and Care Research Wales said: “We want to thank everyone who took part in Discover Your Role 2.0.  

“Collaboration with colleagues, the public, community groups, and national partners has been key to the success of this journey. 

“It was great to meet people from across the country, catching up with many familiar faces and forging new connections with people who are new to the research community.  

“We’re looking forward to the next four years and seeing how public involvement develops.”  

“Public involvement is vital” - the development of DYR 2.0  

DYR 2.0 aligns with the UK-wide shared commitment to enhancing public involvement in health and social care research, with the Health Research Authority, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and other organisations.  

Together our organisations provide guidance, training and support to help drive up standards in health and social care research. Excellent public involvement is an essential part of health and social care research and improves the quality and impact of research.  

There were four stages to the plan - discovery, engagement, first draft consultation and final draft. 

The first stage, discovery, ran from November 2023 and March 2024 and worked to identify the persistent barriers to involvement through forums, surveys and meetings with researchers and public members.  

After 15 barriers were identified, participants worked in groups during phase two to develop solutions during engagement and co-design workshops. 

These workshops took place online and in person in Cardiff, Swansea, and Wrexham, addressing challenges like engaging under-served groups with limited time. 

Carol Barrett, a member of the public involvement community who attended the Swansea workshop, said: “Public involvement is vital. If people understood it would improve their health care they might get involved. All ages and stages can be included.” 

The third phase, consultation, ran from September 2024 to January 2025, shaping the action plan based on feedback. Refinements took place in February and March 2025. 

A webinar was held to present key themes, collaboration strategies, and completed work.  

The final draft will be published in March, with the plan launching in April 2025. 

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