Handbook of Service User Involvement in Nursing & Heathcare Research

What was it like?

This is a useful book to take one through the processing of planning and implementing user involvement in health research. This is managed in a logical and ordered way without becoming prescriptive or dictatorial.

There are occasions where a little more prescription may be appreciated but perhaps this would have ultimately spoiled the book. This book will help you explore how to plan service user involvement but it will not provide templates for you to copy.

Is it detailed enough, or is it too in-depth? Which sections did you enjoy? How well written is it and how accessible?

What were the highlights? 

This is comprehensive exploration of the issues surrounding service user involvement in health research.

Strengths & weaknesses:

Each section within the book can stand alone and therefore, the book does not necessarily need to be read from cover to cover. For those completely new to the issues around service user involvement, however, this may be a good idea.

The book is clearly written with pertinent examples drawn from real life. The index is clear and easy to use. The title appears designed to exclude doctors by the specific mention of Nursing. This seems a shame as all health researchers could gain from reading this book

Who should read it?

Anyone involved or wanting to become involved in service user involvement in research would find plenty to inspire and challenge in this book.