Involve Fest – a week of celebration of involvement in health and social care

Later this month the Public Health Agency (PHA) along with Health and Social Care (HSC) partners, service users and carers, as well as the community and voluntary sector, will host ‘Involve Fest’, a week-long celebration of involvement. 

Involvement, also known as Personal and Public Involvement (PPI), is the involvement of service users, carers and the public in the planning, commissioning, delivery and evaluation of HSC services, in ways that are relevant to them.

Involve Fest will run from the 18 to 23 November and events for the week will showcase what involvement really means.

Michelle Tennyson, Assistant Director for Allied Health Professions (AHP) and PPI at the PHA, said: “Tremendous work continues to be actively carried out by very committed HSC staff, service users and carers on this agenda and this has created the foundation for meaningful involvement.

“However, too often involvement work goes unseen, so we want to celebrate the time, effort and sterling work our service users and carers, and staff and volunteers contribute to making a real difference. We also want to raise the profile of involvement and encourage more individuals, groups and organisations to be a part of it.”

The week-long Involve Fest will feature events such as interactive involvement initiatives, music and art exhibitions, engagement events, family days and student learning. Services users and carers are encouraged to come along to find out more and get involved. Further information about Involve Fest is available at  http://pha.site/involvefest.

Michelle Tennyson concluded: “Involvement doesn’t stop here. We hope that Involve Fest will raise the profile and build momentum so that we can build on our learning and make the festival an annual celebration.

“Through our website www.engage.hscni.net we will continue to promote best practice involvement through all sectors and support everyone involved.”

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