Too often, health research fails to reflect the communities most affected by illness. This project, delivered in partnership with researchers from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, explored how community-led outreach can help address this gap in stroke research.
Working alongside Mosaic Community Trust, researchers engaged directly with underserved communities in North West London to understand barriers to participation. These conversations highlighted how complex research language, low literacy levels, cultural beliefs about illness, and fear of authority can all prevent people from engaging in studies that directly affect their health.
By creating safe, culturally responsive spaces for dialogue, the project helped researchers rethink how information is shared, whose knowledge is valued, and how trust is built over time. This approach led to more inclusive research practices — and directly informed the development of a new pilot stroke education and exercise programme co-designed with the community.
This work reflects Mosaic’s wider commitment to asset-based, community-led change: recognising local knowledge, challenging exclusion in public systems, and ensuring communities are not just consulted, but genuinely heard.
