Service user involvement in research can range from the extremes of being the subject, to being the initiator or investigator, of a research study. The activity of the professional researcher can also range from being the person undertaking the research, to being a partner with, or mentor to, service users. This broad scope of levels of involvement is reflected in the contributions in this book, both in the research experiences reported and in the writing of the chapters themselves.

With contributions coming from a range of service areas including learning disabilities, cancer...

What is the purpose of service user involvement in health and social care research? Can service users be involved beyond tokenism to making a valued and full contribution?
Increasing importance is being placed on service users and professionals being partners in services, rather than in traditional roles of provider and recipient. Users and consumers now want to shape their own services and to be involved in a real sense in investigations of services delivered, but there is still often a sense of frustration about consultation and involvement being tokenistic and service users' roles being...