ARC OxTV for the public and patients
The NIHR ARC OxTV is part of the Working Together group, who have worked to build a unified resource on PPI for researchers.
Click the button below to view (Currently hosted on the NIHR Oxford BRC site)
WHAT IS 'PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT' IN RESEARCH?
Public involvement in health and social care is research being carried out ‘with’ or ‘by’ members of the public, rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ them.
This includes, for example, working with research funders to prioritise research, offering advice or expertise as members of a project steering group, commenting on and developing research materials, undertaking interviews with research participants.
This is how INVOLVE – a national advisory group on public involvement – define it, and is the definition we use.
Public involvement is also often referred to as 'Patient and Public Involvement' or 'PPI'.
WHO CAN BE A PUBLIC CONTRIBUTOR?
Anyone. Really.
The term public, for us, means anyone, including patients, potential patients, carers and people who use health and social care services, as well as people from organisations that represent people who use services.
It doesn't matter what your background is, your age, sex, race, religion or level of education. Everyone has something worthwhile to contribute.
At ARC OxTV we call members of the public who get involved in this way 'PPI contributors' but many other terms are used by other organisations to mean the same role, such as 'PPI representatives', 'patient advocate', 'lay researcher', 'public partner' and so on.
WHY INVOLVE THE PUBLIC IN RESEARCH?
What researchers and clinicians might think is an important health or social care issue to research might not be the same as what patients think is important.
Without hearing the lived experience and thoughts of patients and the public this information – which is vital to making sure we're doing the right research – can get lost or ignored.
PPI contributors can make a difference to health research by:
- identifying new topics for research and ensuring that topics are relevant to patients, carers and members of the public
- making sure that researchers ask the right questions and in a way that the public understand
- keeping the research on track so that it stays relevant
- making sure the people being researched are approached in the right way
- improving the quality of the research by adding another point of view to the design and way that the research is carried out.
OUR PPI STRATEGY
You can view or download our PPI strategy by clicking here (.pdf). (Updated 25 March 2021)
We welcome any feedback you may have. You can reach us on:
Phone: 01865 617193
Email: ppi@phc.ox.ac.uk
NIHR Evidence
Informative and accessible health and care research summaries and info.
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This newsletter is for anyone interested in patient, public and community involvement in health and care services, research or education. We cover Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Milton Keynes and Surrey. Of course, we always welcome readers and content from further afield!
Please send anything you think might be of interest to our editor, Lucy Walters, at community.involvement@oxfordahsn.org
View our PPI Training Webinars
How we've worked with the public in the past
Difficult situations Workshop Final report
PPI News, blogs and events
EUPATI Open Classroom Webinar
Wednesday, 15 December 2021, 1pm to 2pm
Patient and Public Involvement Webinar: Health Economics
Thursday, 18 June 2020, 3pm to 4pm
COVID-19 lockdown: Mary Zacaroli
We asked PPI contributor Mary Zacaroli to let us know how the COVID-19 lockdown had affected her and the third sector and PPI work she does in her own words.
PPI in the time of COVID-19
Public involvement is central to high-quality, ethical research. So, what happens when a pandemic hits and life is turned upside down? We reached out to three experienced PPI contributors – Una Rennard, Julia Hamer-Hunt and Bernard Gudgin – to ask how COVID-19 had affected their personal lives and their PPI work.