Engaging with Impact: How do we know if we have made a difference?

Public and community engagement is an integral part of health research, and many of the people who fund and conduct such research are increasingly promoting engagement.

With the value of engagement firmly established, it is time to think about the quality and impact of engagement activities. How do we know whether engagement is achieving its aims? Are we having the 'impact' that we are being asked to demonstrate? How do we build an evidence base to strengthen engagement with research and advocate for its practice?

This report is based on conversations that took place at the Wellcome Trust’s fourth international engagement workshop: 'Engaging with impact: how do we know if we have made a difference?' The workshop took place in South Africa in October 2012.

Download report [PDF 260KB]

East of the sun and west of the moon: Is measuring the impact of public engagement with science a fantasy?

This article was written for the Trust's fourth international engagement workshop. It identifies some key questions and explores some of the conflicting thinking regarding the challenge of measuring the impact of public engagement with science activities.