Patients, families and the public who support medical research charities want to know about the research these charities fund. But it’s challenging to communicate highly complex scientific information in an engaging way.

Patients Participate! brought AMRC, the British Library and UKOLN at the University of Bath together for a seven-month feasibility study which looked at ways to make sense of scientific literature for patients and those interested in biomedical and health research.

AMRC talked to 43 member charities about how they talk to patients, supporters and other interested parties about medical research. Here we present the project findings, which include some case studies and insights into best practice.

The following resources are available for download (from the panel on the right):

• a project summary, including our findings
• a report of the Patients Participate! workshop held in June 2011
• in-depth case studies showing diverse ways in which organisations are tackling the challenge of communicating scientific information to lay audiences
• a leaflet for members of the public about finding information on medical research
• lay writing guidance for researchers
• a summary of how AMRC members communicate different types of research information.

Patients Participate! was funded by the JISC eContent programme 2011.

19 October 2011