Enhancing the Quality of Health and Social Care Research

A group of 11 participants joined the workshop, of which 2 were males and 9 were females. The group consisted of members who belonged to age ranging from 25 to 50 years. There were participants who had joined prior PPIE workshops which were conducted by the IRD, and there were few new participants also. All participants belonged to the Medawachchiya Divisional Secretariat Division, Anuradhapura district, Sri Lanka. Contact details of the participants including their full name, address and contact numbers were obtained prior to the workshop. Participant feedback was obtained following the workshop.
All 11 participants had responded the feedback form, and had noted down their views and suggestions about the workshop. All participants were satisfied about their participation at this workshop and all of them had indicated that they got an idea about research/studies related to nutrition. Most of them had stated that they were able to learn about research and the importance of nutrition related studies. They were happy to know that they could also contribute to research being a part of it.
Furthermore, participants indicated their motivation to engage in community research work in teams. This could have been influenced by the village culture, unity, and their passion to make a positive difference in the society. Moreover, participants stated that they consider their engagement in PPIE work as a duty towards the society. Most participants had requested to continue conducting similar workshops in future, so they could improve their knowledge. Also the participants had thanked the workshop organizers for giving them this valuable opportunity.

It was held in partial fulfilment of a project titled “Colombo Twin and Singleton Study 3 – Nutrition and Psychological Health” conducted by the Institute for Research and Development (IRD) in collaboration with Kings College London and Keele University UK. This Medical Research Council UK funded project is carried out to create a high-quality research base for nutrition health within Sri Lanka.
Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement is the process of active partnership between researchers, health and care professionals, and members of the public in prioritising, designing and delivering research. This workshop was specifically aimed at establishing a new project specific PPIE group at Rajarata University to support future nutritional research. The session was spearheaded by Dr Duminda Guruge, Senior Lecturer, Department of Health Promotion, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Rajarata University, who is a Co-Investigator of the project, and Ms. Manouri Wimalasekara, PPIE Coordinator, IRD.
The event was graced by Prof. Suneth Agampodi, Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Allied Sciences, RUSL and Prof. Athula Sumathipala, Director, IRD. The session was followed by a fruitful discussion with Prof. Sanjeewanie Ginigaddara, Vice Chancellor, RUSL.