Last year a four-nations partnership, including the NIHR, released the UK Standards for Public Involvement in research, which aim to help researchers and organisations improve the quality and consistency of public involvement in health and social care research.
The standards were subject to a public consultation and piloting phase involving a network of over 400 registered individuals. In addition, 10 ‘test-bed’ projects, including the Northern Ireland Cerebral Palsy Register held at Queen’s University Belfast, were chosen to test and implement the draft standards during 2018–2019, providing feedback and suggestions. The selected projects spanned organisations, regions and research settings and varied in size, experience of public involvement and research focus.
The standards were officially launched in Northern Ireland as part of the Public Health Agency’s Involve Fest, a weeklong celebration of involvement throughout health and social care. The event was delivered in partnership with Queen’s University. Details of the launch and the standards can be accessed by clicking here.
A new handbook has been launched sharing the experiences of the test-bed projects in implementing the standards. These experiences, or stories, show different ways the standards were implemented and integrated into research and research-related projects. In addition to setting out the context of each project, the stories provide details about how the standards were applied, which standards they focused on, what impact the standards had and reflections about public involvement more broadly.
The handbook of implementation stories demonstrates how the UK Standards for Public Involvement have practical applications in health and social care research. The NIHR hopes the booklet will inspire researchers and members of the public to consider how the standards could be applied in their research or research involvement. You can read more about the handbook and standards at: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/new-handbook-demonstrates-the-uk-standards-for-public-involvement-in-action/24948
To read more about PPI in research click here
Picture Caption:
Featured in the picture are (left to right): Margaret Grayson (Chair of the Northern Ireland Cancer Research Consumer Forum, and is a Personal and Public Involvement (PPI) representative on the NI Cancer Trials Network (NICTN) Co-ordinating Centre Executive Committee); Helen Savage (Northern Ireland Cerebral Palsy Register PI member); Martin Quinn (Regional PPI Lead, PHA); Dr Karen McConnell (NICPR Research Fellow, QUB); Gail Johnston (Programme Manager, Research and Development, PHA) and Dr Claire Kerr (Co-manager of the Northern Ireland Cerebral Palsy Register, QUB)