About the Health Research Hub

The Health Research Hub will centralise resources and foster connections among individuals working in consumer and community involvement (CCI) throughout Australia. The Health Research Hub responds directly to an Australian Health Research Alliance priority area. Development of the hub was an iterative process consisting of co-design workshops with stakeholders where feedback was continuously synthesised and communicated back to attendees. Once launched, a pilot evaluation will assess the Hub’s usability and value through further surveys and workshops for ongoing improvement.

Development of the Health Research Hub has been led by Monash Partners and the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, Monash University as part of a Medical Research Future Fund Consumer-led Research Grant – Consumer and Community Involvement Implementation Research for Impact (Project CCIRI) (MRF2019278). Key messages and content for the Health Research Hub have been informed by a 2024 national survey involving 287 consumers, researchers, and health professionals which explored barriers and enablers affecting the adoption of CCI. Additionally, 70 qualitative interviews were held with a range of stakeholders including researchers, consumers, Research Translation Centre CCI leads, funding bodies, health professionals, health service managers, and community organisations. 

Survey findings highlight challenges about awareness and access to implementation resources at individual and system levels. Barriers to CCI include a lack of training for researchers and lack of systems in organisations. Enablers for successful CCI implementation include having strong leadership support and the presence of dedicated consumer involvement staff.

Key findings also include the need for nuanced approaches to CCI in the context of laboratory based, discovery and basic science research. Additionally, with healthcare improvement activity falling under a safety and quality framework, as distinct from a research framework under the National Health and Medical Research Council, perspectives and understanding of CCI may vary. For example, healthcare professionals will focus on partnering with patients for their care as well as for improving healthcare services. Further work is needed to expand our understanding of CCI in these contexts and develop further resources for hosting on the Health Research Hub.

Relevant reports, publications and outputs linked to this project are listed below:

  • Ng, A. H., Reeder, S., Jones, A., Cahill, A., Langridge, D., Baker, S., Heiss, L., Dorin, A., & Teede, H. (2025). Consumer and community involvement: implementation research for impact (CCIRI) – implementing evidence-based patient and public involvement across health and medical research in Australia – a mixed methods protocol. Health research policy and systems, 23(1), 25. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-025-01293-0