Background

Across  July - August 2021, we carried out an online public involvement survey to assist with the development of the proposed Respiratory Medicine Theme and its programme of work as part of the Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) reapplication. The survey was facilitated by the Patient Experience Research Centre (PERC), a core facility of the current Imperial BRC and aimed to help understand the views of the local community in regard to respiratory medicine and health.

Through the online survey the Respiratory Medicine theme particularly wanted to understand:

• which areas of their proposed research are the most important to the North West London community served by the Imperial BRC so these could be prioritised to improve health and care; and

• to understand the issues which affect people living with (or caring for someone with) a respiratory condition the most so these could be addressed

The survey was hosted on Qualtrics, an online survey platform. The survey asked respondents to rank 10 research areas from 1 to 10 with 1 being the area which they believe is the highest priority for research to address and 10 being the lowest priority for research to address. The survey also captured the relevant experience of respondents relating to respiratory health and demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, area of residence).

Key Insight Summary

A total of 116 responses were received from individuals across the North West London Community who had lived experience of a respiratory condition (as a patient or carer/family member/friend) or had interest in this area of research.

Respondents were asked to share their views on respiratory research priorities by ranking research areas which were perceived to be most important areas to pursue.

Across respondents, ‘identifying the causes of lung disease in early life’, ‘understanding how pollution impacts the lungs’ and ‘developing new treatments for patients with advanced lung disease’, were the top three ranked priorities, with ‘exploring safe alternatives to replace cigarettes’ considered the lowest priority.  Responses from people living with respiratory conditions, placed greater priority on ‘finding better ways to avoid and treat patients with flare-ups of their lung condition’ as well as ‘understanding how viruses (e.g., COVID-19) damage the airways and lungs’, than other respondents.

How the insights were used

The insight report summarising the key findings from the online survey was made available to Theme leads and the BRC Executive in order to shape the BRC application. A full report on all public involvement activities undertaken in preparation for the BRC application can be found here.

Those who completed the survey were also given the opportunity to sign up for future public involvement, engagement, and participation opportunities.

We would like to thank all those members of the public who gave their time and thoughtful insights through these activities, and the researchers who engaged enthusiastically in the process.