Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) – advancing research in the OTRG
Our commitment to PPI is rooted in the belief that the perspectives of patients and the public are crucial to advancing pre-clinical vision research. By incorporating their insights and experiences, we aim to enhance the relevance, quality, and impact of our work.
So, what is PPI?
Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) refers to the active participation of patients and the public in the research process. This approach ensures that research is conducted "with" or "by" members of the community rather than "to," "about," or "for" them, enhancing the relevance, quality, and impact of the research outcomes by incorporating diverse perspectives and experiences.
Our Project
At SETU, we are dedicated to fostering meaningful engagement between researchers and the communities they serve. Our current initiative focuses on improving PPI within pre-clinical vision research. This involves developing and implementing strategies to actively involve patients and the public at various stages of the research process. We are aware there are stages of involvement, and those include:
- Informing the Public
- Consulting the Public
- Involving the Public
- Collaborating with the Public
- Empowering the Public
Our aim is to make it possible for members of the public to decide which level of involvement they would like to engage with, and to ensure researchers are able and ready, with the skills needed, to do this.
To support this goal, we are creating a comprehensive PPI Template. This template is designed to assist all researchers at SETU in effectively incorporating PPI into their projects. It will provide practical guidelines, resources, and best practices to ensure that PPI becomes an integral part of our research culture.
Funding: This project was partially funded by the SETU Interdisciplinary Research Seed Funding Initiative.
A special thanks to PPI Ignite Network and Fighting Blindness for their continued support of work in the OTRG and SETU.