What is Patient and Public Involvement in research?
Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in research is an active partnership between members of the public and research teams.
When the public gets involved in research, they work alongside researchers to help shape what research gets done, how it’s carried out and how the results are shared and applied in practice. Being involved is not the same as taking part in research. It’s not about being the person who takes a new drug in a clinical trial. It’s about being a member of the research team that works together to design and run the study.
Why is it important to involve patients and the public in research?
Patients and their families have personal experiences of treatments and living with the results of an injury or condition that researchers and healthcare professionals may not have. By being involved in our research, patients and the public can advise on what is important to them and bring different perspectives to the way that research studies are planned, designed and carried out.
Listening to patients and families can provide a real springboard for ideas…. If patients don’t talk to researchers and clinicians about what is important to them, then treatments don’t improve quickly. It is sometimes the smallest of changes to a piece of research that can make a huge impact on patient outcomes and no one has thought to ask!
Aprella, PPI Contributor
What does it involve?
We have an active PPI group at the Centre who meet regularly. We also have opportunities to be involved in our Birmingham based projects: Scar Laser; anti-scarring dressing clinical trial and our Bristol based UNITS project. Patients and the public can be involved in different parts of the research process and in different ways. This can involve coming to meetings (in Birmingham or Bristol), joining meetings remotely or reviewing and commenting on documents. Patient contributors also sit on our Centre Management groups.
PPI Group Activities
- Suggesting research topics that are relevant and important to patients and the public
- Making sure people taking part in a study or trial are approached in the right way
- Reviewing and developing patient information leaflets for studies in a way that is easy to understand
- Looking at the results of a study and what they might mean to patients
- Attending meetings with research teams and other PPI Contributors to discuss how the research is being carried out
- Offering advice as part of a project advisory or steering group
- Becoming a co-applicant on a research project and developing an application for funding
- Advising on the best way to share the findings of the research projects with patients and the wider public
- Contribute to research governance and management
Our mission is to provide the best care to our patients through quality applied research. This goal can only be achieved by developing a strong partnership and involving patients in everything we do; from setting priorities, study design, participation, research management and sharing the results of our research as widely as possible.
Who can get involved in our research?
Anyone with an interest in our research can get involved and you don’t need any previous experience of working in research. You may have personal experience of a blast/burns injury or scarring yourself. Alternatively, you may be a carer, relative, partner or friend of someone who has. We also welcome members of the public who have an interest in our research and would like to find out how they can become more involved.