Table 1.

Intended and Actual involvement opportunities in doctoral research

Timescale	Intended Involvement in research activities	Actual involvement in research activities	Training provided by SD	Impact
Short-term (10/2013–06/2014)	- Involvement in preparing PhD proposal for funding - Reviewing the proposal and providing feedback - Involvement in systematic review o Reviewing and commenting on the review protocol o Further stages of the systematic review	- Involvement in preparing PhD proposal for funding - Involvement in systematic review o Reviewing and commenting on review protocol	- Educational session on what a systematic review is and the process involved when undertaking a review.	- Validated the need to explore the topic area and develop research question. - Additional terms to search strategy, definition of BAME groups when exploring from an international perspective
Medium-term (07/2014–12/2015)	- Reviewing and commenting on: o Study protocol o Ethics application form, especially those sections that need to be writing in lay language/lay summary o Participant information sheets and consent forms o Topic guide for interviews	- Reviewing and commenting on: o Study protocol o Ethics application form, especially those sections that need to be written in lay language/lay summary o Participant information sheets and consent forms o Topic guide for interviews o Practice interview	- None	- Ensured information sheet and consent form was in plain English and jargon free - Changes to wording of topic guide and order of questions, re-define public involvement - Practice interviews increased researcher confidence
Long-term (05/2015–09/2017)	o Participant recruitment strategies o Data analysis o Dissemination of research findings (co-organising and facilitating the dissemination event). o Co-authoring documents, for example: summaries of research findings, publications	o Participant recruitment strategies o Data analysis o Dissemination of research findings through co-facilitation of the event o Lay summary part of doctoral thesis o Co-author reflective paper	- Educational session on what a thematic analysis is and the processes involved	- Enabled swift recruitment of study participants - Discussing findings helped identify other topics that required further exploration - Co-facilitation of dissemination event ensured engagement of all participants and co-authoring papers to share experiences from different perspectives.