A reappraisal of public engagement in Oxford during the pandemic: three case studies.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the majority of public engagement with research work moving online. This shift to online engagement is likely to affect inclusivity and diversity in such events and this requires further consideration as a result of the pandemic. Through comparing case-studies both pre-dating and during the pandemic, we are able to discern areas for ongoing improvement and learning in the public engagement sphere. MAIN BODY The public engagement work of the Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities has sought to include a broad discussion on its research from a range of demographics, attempting to be inclusive in the engagement work of the Centre. However such efforts have not always been successful and we reflect here on two different pre-pandemic 'in-person' case studies assessing public views on vaccination and medical data sharing. In contrast we compare these pre-pandemic activities to a fully online case study coordinated and completed during the pandemic. These three case studies are compared and assessed for evidence of their efficacy in a post-pandemic world. CONCLUSION: Research and public awareness benefit when multiple views are included in engagement events. Broader demographics enrich our ways of understanding societal responses to healthcare issues such as vaccination, data sharing and social responsibility. The move to online engagement as a result of the pandemic may open opportunities to widening engagement geographically, but it could also pose a threat to inclusivity with certain public groups on a more local level. Enabling access to online engagement is key, but considerations must be made regarding the new barriers created by a solely online world and the many groups of people inadvertently excluded from this work.

It is widely recognised that research is improved when public groups are informed or consulted in this work. In university research settings, academics are actively encouraged to engage the public and seek their input and opinion. However, in order for this work to be of benefit to all involved, the public groups included should be diverse and represent a wide range of society.The Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities is a Wellcome Trust funded research centre at the University of Oxford. The Centre aims to assess and interpret some of the major ethical questions of our time, essentially questioning what it means to be human in a world of rapid technological change. The public engagement work of the Centre strives to include public opinion on its research and raise awareness of the many ethical issues we face as a species.Before the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, the Centre held a range of 'in-person' events, where public groups and researchers were able to communicate in the same space. However, since the pandemic, this engagement work has moved fully online. Through evaluating these activities, we have been able to interpret which groups of people have participated. Through capturing this information, the Centre can monitor both the reach of its work and whether diverse groups of people have been included. We have found that there are a range of barriers and complications involved in solely online engagement and that future online work must address these issues, should it continue.