CA:RING is a UK-wide “Patient and Public Involvement” community. It brings together young people and parents with researchers who are working to improve children’s health and care.
We believe that people should have a say in research which affects them.
Young people and parents can help researchers understand what’s important when it comes to young people’s health, how they can best involve participants in research and how they can be fair and inclusive.
CA:RING is a non-profit partnership between the University of Cambridge and Anna Freud.
Joining CA:RING
Recruitment is currently closed, though will be reopening in 2025
Complete the application form to join our community and start receiving opportunities for getting involved in research. You need to be living in the UK and be either a) a young person aged 11 to 24 OR b) a parent, carer or guardian of a young person under the age of 25.
What does CA:RING do?
We help researchers involve members of the public in planning and interpreting their research and help them keep the public informed about the results of their studies in plain terms.
Who we are
We are a small group of researchers, clinicians and Patient and Public Involvement professionals committed to making research involvement interesting, helpful and inclusive.
Information for researchers
We can support you in involving young people, parents and carers in your project at all stages, from identifying the right research question to disseminating results to a lay audience.
Our mission
✓ Create a diverse and long term community of young people and parents who are able to contribute to healthcare research.
✓ Support innovative research which aims to benefit young people’s health and well-being.
✓ Help researchers work with members of the public in a constructive and reciprocal way.
✓ Make sure our members feel heard and valued and that their contributions make a real difference to research.
What is “Patient and Public Involvement?”
Patient and Public Involvement (or “PPI”) is about doing research “with” members of the public rather than “to” or “about” them.
It’s not the same as being a participant in research itself!
For example, when doing “PPI” people can:
- Help researchers understand what is important to young people and what kinds of things researchers should study.
- Check study documents and make sure they are written in plain language and don’t have confusing jargon.
- Help researchers find study participants.
- Help researchers understand what their study results mean and how to explain it to others.
