Site Guide

What's on the site

This website analyses evidence from 280 high level research reviews relevant to patient and public engagement in health.

These are organised into six domains that are based on priority areas for the NHS in England.

Six domains of engagement

Each domain forms a section of this site:

• improving patient experience
• building health literacy
• choosing appropriate treatment
• supporting people to manage their own conditions
• promoting health and reducing health inequalities
• engaging the public in services to make them responsive and accountable

In each section

Each section has a common structure.

Use the left-hand menus to access the following pages.

First, we show why that topic is important, what is currently happening in England, and what the policy goals are.

Second, at the core of each section is the What Works page. This describes the international evidence base, shows which interventions have been tried and tested, and lists their outcomes and effectiveness.

All the original studies are listed on that section's References page, with links to the abstract or full text articles.

From this evidence, we recommend the Best Buys for commissioners and providers to invest in. These can be downloaded as single page pdf documents.

Third, we provide case study examples of engagement programmes that are already working, some with video. We list all available sources of help and information.

In this Site Guide

Use this Site Guide to understand the nature of the evidence base in the six sections.

You will also find context on:

• why engagement is worth achieving
• who wants it and why
• the role that patients can play
• the role of citizens acting collectively