Ethics of Public Involvement

Public involvement and engagement should be meaningful, inclusive and built on respectful partnerships between researchers, patients, carers and communities. This work focuses on the ethical principles that underpin good involvement practice and how we can apply them in a practical way across health and care research.

ARC East of England has been working with partners including ARC North East & North Cumbria, the Health Research Authority, public contributors and researchers from across the UK to develop a shared understanding of ethical practice in public involvement and community engagement.

Through a series of collaborative events, we are bringing together people with a range of experiences and perspectives to explore what good ethical practice looks like in real-life settings. The aim is to strengthen relationships across the involvement community and support more inclusive, meaningful and equitable involvement in research.

Previous events

Reconnecting the Ethical Anchor

Thursday 25 September 2025

Watch the event here:

Resources from the event

Access the PowerPoint slides here

Access the related slides, 'Use of creative tools and practices in the VCSE that support ethical practice in research' by Ang Broadbridge here

Access the related slides, 'Developing a practice-based guide to good ethical conduct in public involvement in health research' by Jim Elliott here

View the results of survey questions during the event

Further reading: