Patient and Public Involvement, aka Public Involvement (PPI)
PPI is a
form of engaged research, referring to public involvement and co-production
in health and social care research. It is a research practice.
The UK National Institute for Health Research defines PPI
as follows: Research carried out
‘with’ or ‘by’ members of the public rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ them. This may include potential patients, carers
and people who use health and social care services as well as people from
organizations that represent people who use services.
PPI does NOT include the recruitment of study
participants; this is participation of the public rather than involvement. It
also does NOT include work aimed at raising awareness of the public
around research, such as media publications of research findings, and outreach
activities such as open days in research facilities. This is public engagement.
PPI is an ACTIVE partnership with members of the public in the research project and can
include, for example: involvement in choice of research topics; assisting in
the design; advising on the research project; carrying out the research.
