Public involvement

Research carried out within the School of Medicine is focused on improving the health and well-being of everyone affected by physical or mental health conditions. We think it is vital that we listen to the people who live with these conditions on a daily basis in order to produce the very best research evidence possible.

What is Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement? (PPIE) 

Patient and Public Involvement means actively working in partnership with patients and members of the public to plan, manage, design and carry out research. It is research being carried out 'with' or 'by' members of the public rather than 'to', 'about' or 'for' them.

Patients and the public are at the heart of everything we do in the Research User Group affectionately called the RUG. We want to give people a chance to have a say in their own care and treatment and how much they want to be involved in the decisions. By getting involved you can give us a better chance of understanding priorities and concerns, and by working together we can develop guidance and assist others from these recommendations.

PPIE is about building partnerships that give patients and the public a say in the research that we do. We support our researchers with how to engage, inform and include audiences in research to ensure a research culture with active patient and public involvement.

Watch our short animation on patient and public involvement below.

I joined Keele University’s Research User Group some 10-12 years ago and have been involved in a number of research projects as a PPIE (Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement) representative. As a result of my involvement with the Research User Group I was invited to join the School of Medicine’s Research Committee and asa Research Committee member I attend committee meetings, review grant applications and comment on any documentation which members of the public can view. At all times I have always been made to feel both welcome and valued. I am treated as an equal and my thoughts and opinions are always listened to. 

I joined Keele University’s Research User Group some 10-12 years ago and have been involved in a number of research projects as a PPIE (Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement) representative. As a result of my involvement with the Research User Group I was invited to join the School of Medicine’s Research Committee and asa Research Committee member I attend committee meetings, review grant applications and comment on any documentation which members of the public can view. At all times I have always been made to feel both welcome and valued. I am treated as an equal and my thoughts and opinions are always listened to. 

John Pemberton

How do I get involved?

If you are interested in getting involved in research or would like to find out more, please email: ppi.primarycare@keele.ac.uk

If you are a researcher in the School of Medicine and want to collaborate with members of the public please email ppi.primarycare@keele.ac.uk

We have developed a quick, easy to read reference glossary for patients and the public. This contains research terms you may come across: PPIE Glossary

Moult A, McGrath C, Lippiett K, Coope C, Chilcott S, Mann C, Evans N, Turner A, Dziedzic K, Portillo MC, Johnson R. A proposal to embed patient and public involvement within qualitative data collection and analysis phases of a primary care based implementation study. Res Involv Engagem. 2023 May 31;9(1):37. doi: 10.1186/s40900-023-00440-7. PMID: 37259130; PMCID: PMC10233873. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37259130/ 

Moult A, Knight N, Medina N, Babatunde O, Kingstone T, Duffy H, Fryer K, Canvin K, Swaithes L, Brading L, Bray L, Russell W, Dziedzic K. An evaluation of a public partnership project between academic institutions and young people with Black African, Asian and Caribbean heritage. Res Involv Engagem. 2024 Mar 19;10(1):31. doi: 10.1186/s40900-024-00564-4. PMID: 38504379; PMCID: PMC10953256. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38504379/ 

Moult A, Aries A, Bailey P, Paskins Z. Reflecting on activities which support public involvement within an evaluation of public involvement reports from facilities funded by the national institute for health and care research: a co-produced commentary. Res Involv Engagem. 2024 May 10;10(1):46. doi: 10.1186/s40900-024-00579-x. PMID: 38730485; PMCID: PMC11083799. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38730485/ 

Moult A, Baker D, Aries A, Bailey P, Blackburn S, Kingstone T, Lwembe S, Paskins Z. Using the UK standards for public involvement to evaluate the public involvement sections of annual reports from NIHR managed research centres. Res Involv Engagem. 2023 Nov 30;9(1):109. doi: 10.1186/s40900-023-00517-3. PMID: 38037160; PMCID: PMC10688454. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38037160/ 

Brierley-Jones L, Ramsey L, Canvin K, Kendal S, Baker J. To what extent are patients involved in researching safety in acute mental healthcare? Res Involv Engagem. 2022 Feb 28;8(1):8. doi: 10.1186/s40900-022-00337-x. Erratum in: Res Involv Engagem. 2023 Aug 9;9(1):65. doi: 10.1186/s40900-023-00469-8. PMID: 35227330; PMCID: PMC8886877. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35227330/ 

Babatunde OO, Dawson S, Brammar J, Parton L, Dziedzic K, Adebajo AO. Patient and public involvement in implementation of evidence-based guidance for musculoskeletal conditions: a scoping review of current advances and gaps. BMC Rheumatol. 2022 Oct 22;6(1):84. doi: 10.1186/s41927-022-00310-x. PMID: 36273226; PMCID: PMC9588238. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36273226/ 

Blackburn S, McLachlan S, Jowett S, Kinghorn P, Gill P, Higginbottom A, Rhodes C, Stevenson F, Jinks C. The extent, quality and impact of patient and public involvement in primary care research: a mixed methods study. Res Involv Engagem. 2018 May 24;4:16. doi: 10.1186/s40900-018-0100-8. PMID: 29850029; PMCID: PMC5966874. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29850029/ 

Blackburn S, Higginbottom A, Taylor R, Bird J, Østerås N, Birger Hagen K; Edwards JJ, Jordan KP, Jinks C, Dziedzic Z. Patient-reported quality indicators for osteoarthritis: A patient and public generated self-report measure for primary care. Research Involvement and Engagement.2016, 2:5 DOI: 10.1186/s40900-016-0019-x https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29062506/ 

Jinks C, Carter P, Rhodes C, Beech R, Dziedzic K, Hughes R, Blackburn S, Ong BN. Sustaining patient and public involvement in research: A case study of a research centre. J Care Serv Manag. 2013 Dec;7(4):146-154. doi: 10.1179/1750168715Y.0000000003. PMID: 26705412; PMCID: PMC4362802. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26705412/ 

Jinks C, Higginbotham A, Rhodes C, Ong BN, Dziedzic K. The MOSAIC study. In Patient and Public Involvement: Case studies in Primary Care Research. NIHR School for Primary Care Research, November 2014. https://www.spcr.nihr.ac.uk/files/ppi-21/case-studies-final-november-website.pdf