Published: 11 March 2026

By Simon Turpin, Policy Officer, AMRC

This week, alongside fellow signatories, we are celebrating the fourth anniversary of the Shared Commitment to Public Involvement in health and social care research. The Commitment continues to grow, welcoming new signatories, including several additional AMRC members.

Collaboration is at the heart of the Shared Commitment. Working in partnership across the research community has allowed us to achieve results beyond what any single organisation could accomplish. This collective approach has created opportunities to share experiences, learn from one another, and strengthen approaches to public involvement.

Driving inclusive and representative research

Over the past few years, AMRC has been exploring how our charities make research as inclusive and representative as possible - both in participation and design - to ensure patients receive the greatest possible benefit.

In early 2025, AMRC partnered with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) to bring together charities and industry to share learning, discuss our findings and recommend next steps for addressing barriers to inclusive and accessible research. Patient representatives played a central role in the event, and the importance of community engagement, involvement, and co-production in research was a foundational theme.

Following the event, AMRC and ABPI published a report summarising the discussions, identifying areas where further progress is needed, and setting out key actions for the future. Areas identified included raising awareness of digital exclusion, addressing power imbalances between researchers and patients, and building trust through sustained, meaningful involvement.

Showcasing good practice and expanding training

Building on the success of the event, we are developing a series of case studies to highlight good practice from AMRC members.

One example features Arthritis UK (formerly Versus Arthritis), which updated its involvement webpages and training materials to be more inclusive and accessible. As a result, the organisation saw a significant increase in the size and diversity of their lay research partners’ network. The case studies will soon be available on the AMRC website.

This year we are also expanding our training opportunities for members on public involvement. In January, we partnered with the Charities Research Involvement Group (CRIG) to host a facilitation skills session, bringing together colleagues from across both groups’ memberships. The session explored planning and running discussions, creating positive participant experiences, and handling complex situations.

Additionally, we are launching a new public involvement training day for members as part of our ‘Essentials’ series. The new training will introduce key elements of public involvement work, including the role of lay reviewers in grant applications, approaches to payment and recognition, measuring impact, and promoting diverse representation. Attendees will also have the opportunity to hear directly from those experienced in public involvement as part of a panel discussion and Q&A session.

Continued collaboration

As the Shared Commitment enters its fifth year, the opportunities to collaborate, share learning, and strengthen good practice continue to grow. Medical research charities bring invaluable knowledge, networks, and experience, creating enormous potential for partnership and collective impact. AMRC remains committed to supporting its members, fostering meaningful partnerships, and championing public involvement so that research across health and social care truly reflects the needs and priorities of patients and the wider community.