The DRN’s Co-production group met for the first time in person at The Cube in QUB on Saturday 29 January 2023. The meeting was co-facilitated by Joanne Sansome, Berni Kelly and Bronagh Byrne. Eight disabled young people attended the meeting representing the Mae Murray Foundation, Action Deaf Youth and Barnardo’s: Oran, Sean, Ross, Erin, Jeffrey, Leah, Kellie and Caitlin.

The group agreed that co-production meant that: “Disabled people are partners in research who use their experience to inform research that can make a difference to the lives of disabled people.”

The group discussed different experiences of research and how they might get involved in co-producing disability research at QUB. Ideas included: sharing ideas on hot topics, sharing experiences on a chosen theme, participating in research training, advising on research design, becoming a researcher, developing accessible research outputs and co-delivering research presentations. 

The co-production group will meet again before the summer to take these ideas forward and new members are very welcome – anyone interested can email Professor Berni Kelly at: b.r.kelly@qub.ac.uk.