Public Patient Involvement

Image representing the public involvement at the School of Healthcare

Patient and public involvement (PPI) is important to us. PPI is defined by INVOLVE as 'research being carried out with or by members of the public rather than to, about or for them.' This gives a cross-section of the public a chance to become involved in research that's important to them, undertaking training and testing our methods to ensure that they can be understood and we get the most accurate results.

We involve patients and the public in our research in a number of ways:

discussing research questions and designs to ensure we address important and relevant areas
developing information sheets to ensure research is understood by research participants
as members of our research project advisory groups
as researchers (with training), for example helping to conduct interviews with participants
helping us understand the results of research and making sure it is reported well.
disseminating research findings.

Whilst this is valuable input for our research work across the School of Healthcare, to help refine and undertake our investigations, these considerations are especially important for our work with Service Users and Carers. In this respect, public involvement in research is not only an ethical commitment for the school, but is a central part in shaping our research findings, creating insight and improving the provision of health and social care in our communities.