PREPARATION

Why is PPI important to health research?

Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in research has now become a priority for many public and philanthropic research funding bodies. By their nature, funders must have a rationale and a justification for how they allocate funding. Also, most would wish to see the research they fund to have a clear impact on society. The Health Research Board specifically state the importance of PPI in their strategy while the Irish Research Council identifies, in their strategy , the need for Engaged Research, of which PPI is a part, as a way to drive impact.

Being able to show that patients and interested members of the public are involved in shaping and driving research that these bodies fund, helps to legitimise the investment by the bodies who fund that research. It also increases the likelihood of that research having an impact on the lives of patients and other stakeholders.

Funders also have a wider role in promoting and supporting research and, more generally, science within society. By widening involvement in the research cycle by people who can be directly affected by that research and could then become advocates, champions and ambassadors for that research, funders can see this as a way to counter anti-science narratives, mistrust and misinformation.

Activity

• What impact could your research have on society?
• Who are the stakeholders who should be involved in your research? Who will you need to engage in order to achieve impact?
• Write down a list of individual stakeholders (i.e. named people) who you have engaged around your work, outside of academics.
• How have you maintained a relationship with those people?
• Do you have people in your wider social or family network who would either be or know a potential stakeholder in your work?