We are thrilled to introduce the five successful projects from the first round of the Collaboration Kickstarter seed fund! This initiative supports a diverse portfolio of collaborative research projects between Imperial researchers and community partners.
Read on to discover the planned research activities and their objectives for the 2024 academic year.
Break the barriers: Co-production and advocacy to improve maternity care for black families
A collaboration led by Sarindi Aryasinghe (Imperial lead) with community partners Carole Waithe, Gabriella Sarpong, Rhianna Newby-Mayers, Susan Ibuanokpe, Phayza Fudlalla, and Ruchi Wadhwa
Black women, birthing people, and families often face significant obstacles to accessing quality maternity care, with Black women being three times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than white women in the UK. Even though the NHS and local authorities offer maternity services, these services often lack the holistic, personalised approach that many need—leaving families feeling unheard and unsupported. This project addresses these disparities by using co-production and participatory methods to co-design a maternity community advocate intervention, which was prioritised collaboratively through a series of workshops with families, community groups, NHS, and council professionals.
The Collaboration Kick-starter Fund will play a crucial role by supporting the project’s five lived experience community partners. They will help shape research next steps, including a realist review and an ethics application for a study that will explore how community advocates can improve maternity care for Black families. It will also help fund peer researcher training by a Black-led community research organisation, and the start of a blog to share research progress, findings, and information with families and professionals.
Quote by Rhianna Newby-Mayers, project community partner:
“This funding will provide a vital opportunity to ensure the voices and lived experiences of Black families are represented in maternity care research. It will support our active participation in shaping the direction of the research project and provide us with the necessary training and skills to serve as co-researchers. Our involvement has offered an honest authentic reflection of the maternity experiences of Black families, bringing critical insights that may otherwise be overlooked or misunderstood. By working collaboratively with researchers, healthcare professionals, and community stakeholders, we aim to identify alternative approaches and solutions that will enhance the quality, accessibility, and cultural responsiveness of maternity services.”
Co-designing research into smartphone-related interventions on young people’s health and wellbeing
A collaboration led by Rachel B Smith (Imperial lead) with community partners Matthew Barnett and Selma Khelfaoui
Public concern about the impact that smartphones and social media has on young people has led to growing calls for ‘smartphone free’ childhoods. Local young people from Nova New Opportunities who refer to themselves as “phone addicts” and as having an “addiction to social media”, hold the view that “social media promotes false ideas”. Evidence on the effectiveness of smartphone-related interventions to support young people’s health on a school, family and individual basis are needed to tackle the issue holistically. This project will explore these concerns and lived experiences through co-design of a research proposal with young people, families and schools.
Quote by Rachel B Smith, Imperial lead:
“The funding is allowing us to work together with young people, parents and teachers to design future research to address the impacts of smartphones and social media on young people’s health and wellbeing, which is key to making it a success.”
Finding community: fostering ownership for refugee integration
A collaboration led by Weston Baxter (Imperial lead) with community partners Eiman Khidir, Naglaa Sadik Ahmed, and Hailu Hagos
This project takes an experiential approach to understanding how refugees navigate a process of settling in the UK. The evaluation is framed around psychological ownership— the experience of shifting from "the place I live" to "my community." Using qualitative mapping methods, we will explore key moments in the settlement journey, such as accessing services, forming social connections, and engaging in community life. By focusing on lived experiences, the project aims to uncover barriers and enablers of belonging. We aim to inform interventions that foster social cohesion and empower refugees to actively shape their new environments.
Quote by Dr Eiman Abdelmoneium Khidir, Community Partner from Abdul Mageed Educational Trust:
"The Fostering Ownership for Refugee Integration project aligns directly with our mission of supporting refugees as they rebuild their lives in the UK. Our work focuses on creating inclusive communities where refugees are recognised as valuable members rather than outsiders. This funding is crucial in expanding our impact, ensuring that refugees are not only welcomed but actively engaged in shaping their new communities. Our goal is to foster a true sense of belonging—where refugees genuinely feel it is “my community” rather than “their community.”
Addressing communication issues in virtual consultations with older people
A collaboration led by Tetina Lunova (Imperial lead) with community partner Bee Burges
Virtual consultations are now central to primary care, offering convenience and cost efficiency, but also presenting communication challenges that lead to increased misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment. Older adults (aged 65 and above) are disproportionately affected, facing significant communication barriers that heighten patient safety risks and exacerbate digital exclusion. This project aims to investigate the communication challenges encountered by older adults (aged 65 and above) during virtual consultations and to co-develop strategies to address these issues. To achieve these aims, an Imperial research team will partner with Open Age, a London-based charity dedicated to championing an active life for the community of individuals aged 50 or over. We will organise four workshops to discuss communication barriers in virtual care, strategies to address these barriers, and identify priorities for further research. This project will also involve co-designing a research proposal and a grant application for a study into communication issues in virtual care.
Quote by Tetiana Lunova, Imperial lead:
"This Collaboration Kickstarter Grant enabled us to build a meaningful partnership with Open Age and reach a traditionally underserved patient group - older adults from diverse backgrounds. This project will give older adults more voice in research, by empowering them to set the research priorities and guide the direction of a future study of communication barriers in virtual consultations. We hope that this will help us produce truly meaningful and applicable research shaped by the very people it aims to serve."
Community-led advocacy for EDI in cancer care and research
A collaboration led by Piers Boshier (Imperial lead) with community partners Zeinab Deria, Naomi Asantewa-Sechereh, and cancer patients and carers
Despite aspiring to place equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at the heart of all that we do, this does not always translate into the real-world delivery of healthcare and research.
Our Collaboration Kickstarter funded project will establish a community-led EDI advocacy group made up of diverse patient and public representatives, including from our community partner, Reviving Links. The group will primarily focus on cancer care and research. One of the key motivations for forming this group is to provide an independent forum to establish EDI priorities in cancer and to ensure they are adequately reflected in future research. We hope to empower and support the group to identify areas of unmet need in EDI and to (co-)design interventions to address them.
Quote by Piers Boshier, Imperial lead:
“We are so excited to be working with patients, Reviving Links and our other partners to build this EDI advocacy group. We hope that this Kickstarter award can be the catalyst for greater awareness and acknowledgement of EDI in healthcare and research. For communities in our region this will mean that minoritised groups will have a greater voice around issues that affect their ability to access healthcare and research.”