The point-giving course in user participation in medical and health research was held at Eitri Health Incubator at Haukeland Hospital.
From REMEDY, advisor Marianne Skaar has participated in the program committee and as a facilitator.
– Neuro-Sysmed and UiB have generously included the partners in the course and have put in extensive work to ensure a good course, says Skaar. The research center Neuro-SysMed in Bergen and UiB have had courses in medical and health research for PhD fellows, researchers and user collaborators for a few years.
REMEDY is a partner in the course
Starting this year, the research centers Matrix (cancer research), NorHEAD (headache research), FORMI/OUS and REMEDY have been invited as partners in the course, along with NorCrin.
In total, there were 86 registered participants, including both fellows (who received 2 ECTS points for participation) and researchers and user collaborators. Three members of the REMEDY patient council participated in the course, Trine Amalie Sjøvold, Trine Knudtzon and Kristin Isabella Kirkengen Espe. .
The user collaborators who participated in the course were also invited to a digital pre-meeting about concepts, the research process, and methods in health research.
The course had professional presentations and group work on roles, clarification of concepts, user participation in research and recruitment of user collaborators. Other topics were communication and language in collaboration. Sharing experiences from collaboration in research projects where the researcher/fellow holder and user collaborators shared the strengths and challenges in the collaboration.
Experiences from research
PhD candidate Kristine Røren Nordén from REMEDY and user collaborator Jon Skandsen from REMEDY patient council shared their experiences from the collaboration in the ExeHeart study.
– It was a useful exercise that provided more insight into how the research process can benefit from user participation, says Nordén
A new course will be organized in 2025.
“We welcome PhD fellows, researchers and user collaborators affiliated with the REMEDY research center to participate,” says Marianne Skaar enthusiastically.
New course dates will be announced as soon as they are ready.
The National Association for Public Health has been responsible for the application for funds. The DAM Foundation has financed the course with NOK 400,000 to free up people for the preparation and implementation of the course. The funds will go towards a pilot and implementation of the course for two years.
