National Health and Medical Research Council’s statement on consumer and community involvement in health and medical research:

Consumers, community members, researchers and research organisations working in partnerships, to improve the health and well-being of all Australians through health and medical research.

Health research and health communities are increasingly recognising the value of involving consumers and community at all stages of the research process.

A common question from researchers is ‘when should I involve consumers and community in my research?’

You can involve consumers in:

generating research ideas
designing your project
developing research resources such as information sheets and consent forms
conducting research activities
interpreting and analysing results and their implications for policy and practice
helping to promote the use of research to inform improvement in healthcare and health outcomes, especially research that suggests a change in public awareness or behaviour.

Some resources to help you to involve consumers and community are listed below.