User involvement

User involvement in the healthcare system means that service offerings are designed as much as possible in an equitable collaboration between patients and users. In the context of health research, user involvement means that users are involved in various phases of a project, from the idea stage to implementation. Users have knowledge and experience that complement the knowledge researchers have. According to the Government White Paper 10/Stortingsmelding 10 (2010-2013), good quality in healthcare services is based on active collaboration between users, healthcare professionals, and researchers. Therefore, it is important that users are involved in various parts of the research process, for example, by identifying research topics, discussing methods and research ethics, developing good patient information, and disseminating results. User involvement can enhance the democratization of research by giving users the opportunity to influence publicly funded projects.

Ivar Ytreland Larsen and Jon Anker Lisberg Sarpebakken represent the users of ProTx.