How to get involved

Service users, carers and fellow professionals can get involved with research and development at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in a number of ways, whether this is participating in one of our National Research Projects or joining our dedicated service user research group, the Help from Experts by Experience for Researchers (HEER) group. We would also encourage you to register your interest in taking part in dementia research through the Join Dementia Research service.

You can watch a video below produced by the Trust and the National Institute of Health Research, which details the experiences of our service users who have taken part in research.

More information on how you can get involved is available below.

Help from Experts by Experience for Researchers (HEER)

Who are we?

A group of service users and carers established in 2006.

  • who are passionate about research
  • with lived and learned experience
  • who feel that mental health research can be better when we work together
  • coordinated through the Research and Development department

    “It’s great to know our contributions make a difference to research in mental health”

Who are you?

  • HEER members
  • Researchers looking for public, service user/patient and carer involvement in your research.“One of the best PPI meetings I’ve been to” Lucy Carter (Trainee Clinical Psychologist) University of Leeds.“Invaluable advice from a service users perspective …an excellent resource for researchers that can and should be utilized through the research process” Dr. Kate Farley (Senior Research Fellow) University of Leeds.

  • The above information is available to download as a leaflet. How do I join the Help from Experts by Experience for Researcher group?We are not currently looking for new members as we have full membership, but please contact the Research and Development department if you would like to express an interest in joining the group. We can then contact you should any places become available.If you would like to know more about being involved, please email: research.lypft@nhs.net.
Join Dementia Research

We are very keen to hear from people with dementia and their carers to help us better understand this disease and find new ways to improve care and help people live well with dementia.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in partnership with Alzheimer’s Research UK and Alzheimer’s Society have developed Join Dementia Research, a service which allows people to register their interest in participating in dementia research and be matched to suitable studies.

Sign up to Join Dementia Research to find out what research you could take part in.

The service is aimed at people with dementia and their carers, but anyone with and without dementia over the age of 18 can sign up and people can register on behalf of someone else.

The prime minister’s challenge on dementia called for 25 percent of people with dementia to be registered on Join Dementia Research (JDR) by 2020. To achieve this, research needs to be embedded in care. We work hard to spread the word about JDR to both clinicians and service users as exemplified by this case study.

National Research Projects

If you would like to find out more about participating as a service user or as a carer in any of these studies, please contact our Research and Development Team by emailing research.lypft@nhs.net or calling 0113 855 2387.

  • SPACES – Supporting Physical Activity through Co-production in people with Severe Mental Illness
  • AQUEDUCT – Achieving Quality and Effectiveness in Dementia Using Crisis Teams. An RCT of a resource kit for teams managing crisis in dementia
  • DIAMONDS RCT – Diabetes and Mental Illness, Improving Outcomes and Self-management) Randomised Controlled Trial
  • EDGI study – Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative study
  • GLAD study – exploring how our genes and the environment influence the development of anxiety and depression.
  • STRATA – SerTRaline for AnxieTy in adults with a diagnosis of Autism. A randomised controlled trial
  • The Stepping Stones Study – Evaluating Models of care, best practice and care pathways for women who are dependent on drugs and their infants.
  • Digital health tools in psychosis – Staff and service user views on digital health tools in psychosis

These projects are usually referred to as ‘portfolio projects’ and are peer-reviewed, high quality projects, funded through a national competitive process. Each of the projects has been adopted by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).