Co-producing rapid research: Strengths and challenges from a lived experience perspective

Best practices for supporting researchers' mental health in emotionally demanding research across academic and non-academic contexts

PURPOSE

Researcher mental health in emotionally demanding research (EDR) has been recognized as important, but research to date has often been limited to academic research contexts, qualitative research, or single disciplines. The aim of this study was to identify best practices to promote researchers' mental health in EDR across academic and non-academic contexts.

METHODS

Twenty-six researchers experienced in EDR (aged 33-64) were recruited across sectors and disciplines (e.g. sport psychology, palliative care, conflict resolution). Semi-structured online 2:1 interviews were conducted between October 2023 and January 2024. The co-designed interview guide asked questions on best practices at individual and contextual levels when undertaking EDR. Interviews were analysed through reflexive thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Three themes were generated: (1) the need for a psychologically informed research culture; (2) actions and principles in the immediate research environment; and (3) researcher boundaries with the research, others, and oneself. Underlying mechanisms across themes included tailored, iterative and flexible, and collaborative.

CONCLUSIONS

A shift is needed towards a more psychologically informed research culture to support mental health in EDR. Findings have implications for research organizations, conference organizers, and funders as greater resources are needed for researchers in EDR, regardless of method, discipline, or sector.

To scope or not to scope? The benefits and challenges of integrating scoping studies in rapid qualitative research and evaluation

Creating sustainable change and fostering collaborative relationships between researchers and stakeholders is a recognized challenge in the field of evaluation. Identifying programme purpose, cultural context, potential challenges, and engaging stakeholders before an evaluation can produce responsive and impactful evaluations. This paper discusses implementing a targeted scoping study within the framework of rapid qualitative research and evaluation. A scoping study enables collaborative decision-making on evaluation priorities, and functions as an evaluability assessment in time-sensitive contexts. In our experience, a scoping study can be carried out in as little as five days or as long as six weeks. It is timely to revisit the question of what factors influence evaluation outcomes, a scoping study can be used to support an evaluation, address access to data and research, and strengthen communication channels. The methodological approach was used to co-produce an evaluation with an NGO that accurately reflected their needs, recognizing possible challenges and solutions.

Meaningful consumer engagement in medical radiation sciences: enhancing quality improvement and research projects

Consumer engagement and partnership are increasingly recognised as a significant component of healthcare planning, provision, quality improvement and research. This article provides an overview of consumer engagement embedded in two different projects: a quality improvement project and a research project. The considerations and steps taken to effectively engage and partner with consumers throughout both projects will be discussed such as the prompt for consumer engagement, how the consumer/s were recruited and their specific contributions. The commonly reported advantages and challenges as well as reflections on what we might do differently with the benefit of hindsight are presented, including time required by both consumers and health professionals; funding and remuneration; and reporting findings to the wider community. In demonstrating consumer engagement and our learnings, we aim to encourage further consumer engagement activities amongst medical radiation professionals.