Participant Engagement

It is important to us to get the opinions and perspectives of our participants during the development and running of the CSS Biobank research. To help with this, we have set up two Volunteer Advisory Panels (VAPs).

Our VAPs each consist of 12 representative participants from across the UK. The VAP meets with the study team online several times a year and also gives input online. The eVAP volunteers focus on online input. The panels were formed in summer 2021 and member terms are two years.

Examples of how our VAP members advise us are by giving feedback about the feasibility of our research plans and suggesting perspectives for us to consider when planning research. They also advise on questionnaires and other study material design, and test questionnaires, and help us make sense of emerging results from the perspectives of people with different experiences of COVID.