Improving PPIE in RfPB research applications

  Created on Friday, 17 Jan 2020. Posted in Design Tips

Doing public involvement in the right way

• Don’t over-complicate it - use people to get a second opinion, help you, critique your application
• Ensure PPI activities are not treated merely as a tick box exercise, but have a clear purpose/role in improving the research study
• Use a range of engagement techniques - focus groups, individual conversations, surveys etc
• Respect the expertise patients bring - value their time (inc. payment) and give equal voice

Improve plain English summary (PES)

• Read the INVOLVE and NIHR guidelines about how to write a plain PES
• Make sure PES explains the research, not just the reason for it
• PES tend to suffer from the same problems of language, layout, etc
• Use lay people to write PES. Often if PPI comes from academic profession, the PES remains over complicated despite their help

Description of public involvement in grant applications

• Weave PPI description throughout the application, if you just put it at the end then reviewers have to piece it all together - make their job easier!
• Make sure your application ‘fully’ costs PPI involvement
• Ensure early stage researchers have adequate mentoring and strong co-applicants
• Use INVOLVE guidelines on how to work out accurate and fair payment for public members involved in the research

Value of PPI to research design

• Make sure the difference PPI has made to the application is explained
• Good PPIE makes the research better - it’s not just about giving ‘lip-service’ to a requirement.
• Get lay person with good communication skills to check Plain English Summary even before initial submission.
• Don’t use the words ‘we will invite people’ - involve them from the start.
• Good PPIE doesn’t happen overnight. Demonstrate that you've built those relationships?

Clarity of public co-applicants

• Ensure application has clear role described if PPI co-applicant present
• Mandatory use of PPI payment guide from INVOLVE. Only give choice of vouchers if it will affect public members on benefits.

Having the right people involved

• Ensure PPIE is reflective of the communities you are working with
• Make sure the application is studying a diverse enough group to be applicable more widely
• Think about how to balance, including people, the research is intended for with the tasks/skills you need for PPIE
• One person’s view is not enough - you need to talk to lots of patients
• Involve relevant members of the community to help identifying the specific terms of the project proposed
• Beware patient group endorsement - they will always support research into their topic
• Ensure researchers think about participants belonging to patient groups
• PPI can help you identify compounding factors that might influence your intervention, e.g. in a randomised study how many people might access intervention (especially when exercise / online support) independently.
• Ensure participants are involved in dissemination - get them tickets to conferences, etc.