inspire FAQ Leaflet

Why join inspire? Involving service users, Information
carers and the public in and frequently
Becoming involved with inspire wheth- mental health research
er you are a service user of NSFT, a carer asked
or a member of the general public is a inspire questions
great opportunity.
Research and Development [email protected]
 The chance to have a say in future research The Knowledge Centre
and put forward your own ideas.
Hellesdon Hospital, NSFT
 Being able to impact and bring a ‘real’ view Norwich
to existing research ideas.
phone: 01603 421158
 Are you passionate about how research can mobile: 07468 715481
inform and improve treatments and ser- email: [email protected]
vices? Do you ever feel that research is too web: www.nsft.nhs.uk/research
removed from the people that it is meant to twitter: @NSFTinspire
help? If these are familiar thoughts then by facebook: NSFT inspire PPI Group
joining inspire, you will be able to contrib-
ute to mental health research ideas and
studies, and help to inform future clinical
practice.

 Help with sharing the results of research;
make sure the important outcomes of re-
search reach everyone, not just those in-
volved in a study.

 Improve your knowledge of research: Is re-
search an area of interest for you? inspire
could open the doors you need to become
involved in research further.

What is inspire? Questions ? No, your care will not be impacted on in any way.

inspire is a new initiative for the Norfolk and Who can join inspire? What if I miss an inspire meeting or panel?
Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT).
inspire stands for involving service users, carers Absolutely anyone can join inspire, you just need to have an If you miss a meeting because of ill health or another rea-
and the public in research. interest in mental health research! son that is absolutely fine. It would be helpful for us to know
inspire is the first mental health focussed about this before the meeting if possible, if you are able. If
scheme within Norfolk and Suffolk to engage How do I join inspire? you miss a few meetings in a row we will try to make contact
service users, carers and the general public in all with you to talk about whether you feel able to continue to
NSFT research activities. Membership forms are available via the email and postal ad- support inspire.
inspire members make up three panels that fo- dress below and also available to download on the research
cus on different areas of research. These panels pages of the NSFT website. I haven’t got access to the internet can I still be involved?
are youth, adult and later life.
inspire members are able to get involved in all In there a test or assessment to join? Yes of course, please let us know and we will communicate
stages of research. This includes the design and with you by phone and post.
development of new research ideas, being No, but we will have a chat with you prior to you joining to
named on grant funding applications, assisting make sure you fully understand about the aims of inspire and What if I want to leave inspire?
and feeding back on the practicalities of live re- are able to support these.
search studies, sharing research findings and cre- That’s fine, please just let us know so we can update our
ating and developing their own research ideas. What will be expected from me as an inspire member? records, joining inspire is voluntary and we hope it will be
inspire is for you, and will continue to develop enjoyable and something to look forward to rather than a
and grow based on your feedback and views. We would like inspire members to attend panel meetings and commitment.
occasionally be willing to review research at home if neces-
Alex - inspire Youth Panel Member at the inspire Suffolk sary. There will also be annual inspire events that you will be Where will meetings be held?
launch event and forum in October 2014 invited to attend as well as other opportunities that will be
offered to everyone (for example attending conferences). We aim to hold meetings throughout Norfolk and Suffolk,
Attendance is always voluntary and not expected. however if panel members are all from a similar area or have
travel considerations we will take this into account and hold
How much of my time will inspire take up? meetings in the best place for members.

inspire panels will meet quarterly or less (depending on how How do I pick which inspire panel to join?
often panel members would like to meet), we expect these to
last 2 hours at the most. Other events may last a whole work- This depends on your area of interest or experience. We
ing day but there would only be one or two of these a year at have developed a leaflet to inform about the individual pan-
the most and attendance would be voluntary. You may also els. You are welcome to sit on more than one panel if you
need to spare time to read papers for the panels before the wish and have the time to do this.
panel meetings.
What if I want to change panels?
Will I get paid?
That’s fine. Please let us know and we will work with you to
We will reimburse your travel costs to come to inspire panels, help this happen. Please note that panels will have limited
providing you are travelling from and to a location in Norfolk space for members so try to think as much as possible about
or Suffolk. Refreshments will be provided at any panel which panel would be of most interest to you when you join.
meeting or inspire event.
Will I be given any training for my inspire role?
Will payments affect any benefits I receive?
Yes, full training on reviewing and reading research will be
Please check with your benefits office about this before be- given. You may also like to be involved in delivering training
coming involved or claiming any reimbursement. to new inspire members. If this is something that interests
you please let us know.
Will being an inspire member affect any care I am receiving
from NSFT? Please feel free to contact us if you have a question that
hasn’t been answered here!