Is there anybody out there?

It seems to me that communicating my research findings will be just as challenging as doing the research itself!

Let’s think about who might be out ‘there’ and might they be interested.  And, if they are interested, how will they know what I am doing.

Governance in the NHS is really interesting!

Well, first and foremost, there will be the non-executives who have provided the data for the research.  Some may be just vaguely interested but others may want to use my findings in their own organisations.  There will be others who haven’t contributed but want to use the research, perhaps because of particular circumstances in their own Board – a pending visit by the Care Quality inspectorate can be very effective in focussing the board’s attention on its governance processes! 

Hopefully there will be people in ‘provider organisations’ who will want to consider the issues emerging.  Every NHS board has a lead officer for corporate services.  They will have been the person I will have tried to contact initially when gathering data.  Other people may have an interest, so I will need to ensure that my research is easily accessible via a ‘google’ search or similar.  This means having a ‘web-based platform’ to showcase my work.

Research Gate keeping telling me that lots of people are interested in my research topic.  But I have yet to receive a useful contact.
Image provided github.com

There are plenty of commercial platforms available but even the ones involving a subscription are not likely to reach many of my target audience.  I think that working with an existing organisation that provides material for the NHS may well be the best way forward. 

Various official organisations produce guidance documents and some of these relate to governance.  It would be nice to think that they may like to use my research.  But I will need to identify the right people to speak to and then overcome institutional barriers. Another hurdle to jump over!

There may even be some other souls out there researching this area.  Unless my research is published in an academic journal – which I am certainly not expecting – it may not be easy to contact them. 

So, the challenges are – where to start, who to aim to reach and how to get in touch?

It is good to share ideas and experiences. 
Clip art

The easiest group to access is the NHS non-executives who have provided data.  Hopefully they will disseminate some of the emerging ideas to board colleagues and some may be prepared to help with dissemination to boards who have not contributed

In addition to following up existing personal contacts , I will send a link to my blog and other contact information to as many people with a governance role as I can identify within the 200 plus health providers in the UK.  Also, I will set up a webpage with links to relevant documents. 

As an ‘old dog’ trying to learn some ‘new tricks’ I have now got used to using the internet and I can even access the university library on-line!  I do use WhatsApp – someone set it up for me – but many of the new social media apps are beyond me. 

So how to move into the 2020’s world of social media?  I will use Linkedin and Facebook, as they are obviously likely sources of contacts.  But I can’t see myself using Twitter and I am told that there are many other ‘apps’ of which I haven’t heard!

I believe that people using social media in a closed setting may disseminate information that is seen as ‘too technical’ for wider discussion but will certainly interest some non-execs
Logo used with permission – see https://whatsappbrand.com/

So even if I don’t use whatever is the latest fashionable platform to disseminate my ideas, I am hopeful that my contacts amongst board members may ‘spread the word’.  An example of what I would like to tap into is a group of non-execs on my own NHS board.  They share ideas and refer colleagues to interesting articles and news items using WhatsApp.

A small but potentially important audience is the body of people working in government departments or organisations such as nhsconfederation, as well as those offering consultancy and similar services.  These people are most likely to be interested and may also help with networking and dissemination.

There is a growing acceptance that, in order to begin to address the challenges of the future, we will need to have integrated care services.  This means that an increasing number of organisations are thinking seriously about the governance implications of these organisational changes. I expect to communicate directly with these groups – there are only about 30 across the UK.  I would also hope to be able to contribute to, and use, their networks to disseminate my work.

They say that taking part in the race
is more important than winning!
Image from shuttlecock.com

So, will I be able to jump over all the hurdles? Will I find people out there who are as interested in this research as I am? 

I don’t really know but I will keep going until I cross the finish line!