Opportunity to be part of a project about Reproductive Health Data

Background information

The ‘Data for Reproductive Health’ project is part of the work of the new National Institute of Health & Care Research (NIHR) Policy Research Unit in Reproductive Health, a £3 million research investment over 3 years from January 2024. The purpose of the Unit is to produce high-quality research evidence to inform policy about health, care, and public health systems for reproductive health in England. The Unit will work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and other government departments. As a team, they strive to enhance the support and care provided to communities and improve individuals' experiences of reproductive health.

Co-Production Collective is supporting the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Reproductive Health, and the Data for Reproductive Health project, to work in a co-produced way which is why we are posting this blog.

By reproductive health we mean the physical, mental and social well-being relating to the reproductive system, including a safe and satisfying sex life and reproductive rights (for example, issues relating to menstruation / periods, menopause, contraception and abortion, fertility, sexually transmitted infections, cancers and other conditions affecting the reproductive organs, etc.).

About the Data for Reproductive Health Project

Information about people’s reproductive health is spread across separate datasets (collections of data) held by different organisations. For example, data is held separately across general practices (GPs), hospitals, sexual health clinics, pharmacies, birth registries, and research studies etc making it difficult to follow an individual’s health experiences over time and across different settings where they access care. By linking some of these types of reproductive health data together (that is, connecting different datasets together) anonymously, this would help us to:

• Explore reproductive health across people’s lives and identify drivers of well-being
• Understand people’s experiences of care across different healthcare providers
• Examine inequalities in access to and quality of care for different reproductive health conditions
• Plan services to better meet people's needs across their whole health journey.

One of the aims of the Data Project is to assess whether the public would accept linking different types of anonymised datasets relating to reproductive health. The hope is that by linking together different datasets, we may be able to create a data resource for use by those planning services and investigating reproductive health conditions, held in a secure location and within which individuals would not be identifiable. We are planning to host a public event to discuss public views on linking reproductive health data and this is why we would like your help!

About the role

The Data for Reproductive Health project team are looking for 4 people with lived or living experience of accessing reproductive health services to join our team and help co-produce a public event about data in summer 2025.

Ideally you will be passionate about making a positive difference to the use of data in reproductive health research and service development.

Responsibilities include:

• Being part of the team developing the project work, in particular the public event planned for summer 2025.
• Sharing your knowledge and experience to help shape the direction of the project.
• Attending the two-day in person public event in summer 2025 – location to be confirmed.

What is the time commitment?

You would need to be available for 4-6 hours per month. This will be made up of 2 meetings of 1 hour per month plus preparation time.

In addition, for the public event, you will need to be available for:

• A 2-hour online introductory meeting in the weeks before the event
• The 2 weekend days for the event that we are planning in Summer 2025

You will also need additional time outside of meetings to review materials and provide feedback.

The data project team currently meet every other Friday at 1pm for 45 minutes to an hour. If this time isn’t suitable for you, we are happy to try our best to find a time that works for everyone. To help with this, please let us know when you express an interest if there are any regular days or times you are not able to commit to.

Planning for and developing the outputs from this event will run from February 2025 until the end of October 2025, and we hope that you would like to be involved for the entire time.

About you

We are ideally looking for people who can identify with one or more of the following:

• An individual from a racially minoritised community.
• Someone with living or lived experience related to reproductive health or an individual who has supported a partner through a reproductive health journey (e.g. heavy or painful periods, menopausal symptoms, contraceptive use, abortion, difficulties conceiving, pelvic pain or problems, amongst other reproductive health related conditions).
• Someone with some experience of working on co-produced projects and an interest in planning events.

You do not need to have knowledge of data or experience of working with data as training will be provided.

What we offer

Joining our team as a co-producer has the following benefits:

1. Remuneration (£25 per hour) for meetings and preparation*. We can also offer to cover the following costs, if agreed in advance:

• Travel (if meetings are in person)
• £5 per 2-hour meeting to cover internet costs
• Carer and childcare costs
• Other access requirements

2. Optional authorship and/or acknowledgment within project reports and publications that you contributed to (if this is of interest).

You will also be supported by Co-Production Collective staff members (in advance and during meetings), to ensure that everyone can participate fully in the meetings.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to providing equality of opportunity, being fair and inclusive, and creating a place where we all belong and are valued. We therefore actively encourage applications from global majority backgrounds who are underrepresented in our community and at UCL, including but not exclusive to non-graduates; disabled, D/deaf and neurodivergent people; LGBTQ+ people; and people from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic communities.

Further details and how to express your interest

To express your interest, please send an email to coproduction@ucl.ac.uk by 17:00 (UK time) on Wednesday 8 January 2025, letting us know:

1. What has motivated you to apply to be a co-producer on the Policy Research Unit Data for Reproductive Health Project? [max 250 words]
2. Why you think you would be a good fit for this role? [max 250 words].

In this email, please include your contact email address and your full name.

We will choose applications based on your answers to the questions and how they meet the experience required for the role.

We will be in touch as soon as possible after the 8 January 2025 deadline. If you need assistance submitting your application, or have any queries about the role, please contact us on coproduction@ucl.ac.uk

* This rate is different to that of the updated Co-Production Collective Payment Policy 2024, as it is the rate that was applied for when funding application budgets were submitted.

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Image credit: Canva

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