Public involvement in public health research

Pages123-126
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-03-2017-0012
Date18 September 2017
Published date18 September 2017
AuthorJulian Ashton
Subject MatterHealth & social care,Mental health,Public mental health
Public involvement in public
health research
Julian Ashton
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the progress in public and patient involvement (PPI) in
public health research, and identify the relevant problems and solutions.
Design/methodology/approach To explore the advantages and drawbacks of PPI in health research,
drawing on studies which have looked at the barriers to effective PPI, as well as the benefits to all parties.
Findings Guidelines have emerged from recent research for the process of PPI throughout a project;
however different schemes for PPI will apply, depending on the context.
Research limitations/implications There are not many well-researched studies into PPI in this area.
A frequent limitation in research projects is that there is not sufficient provision for PPI. The implication is that
more time and funding should be made available for well-planned PPI.
Practical implications Researchers need to find more ways for involvement, as well as optimising
current methods.
Social implications The growth of PPI has opened up channels of communication and developed new
roles for people in research, who would not otherwise be involved.
Originality/value The paper draws together a range of studies in an original way, as well as using some
unpublished material. It is an area of current interest.
Keywords Review, Implementation, Public, PPI, Community-wide
Paper type Viewpoint
Given its name, it m ight be expected tha t public health re search would lend i tself to public
involvement, but in practice that does not appear to be the case. The man in the street has
generally been the subje ct of and participant in public health research ,a nd often the audience
for the results. 12 years ago, public and patient involvement (PPI) became a requirement for
research projects that are part of the UK Clinical Research Network portfolio. The need to
develop PPI led to the establishment of INVOLVE (2014), a national advisory body, by the
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), continuing to take a lead on PPI throughout
NIHR. As public inv olvement grows, its definiti on has been refined. The exten t of involvement in
the UK is estimated by the NIHR (2015, pp. 20-21). This document also briefly describes
positive and negative aspects (NIHR, 2015, pp. 33-34).
Where public involvement has been programmed into research, there have been problems in
some areas, but evidence of both the positive and negative impacts has grown slowly
in recent years (Brett et al., 2014; Boote et al., 2002; Oliver, 1995). In a systematic review
(Brett et al., 2014), the challenges to good PPI were examined: because of problems of
colliding worlds, where priorities, motivations and ways of working differ and science gets
congested, causing conflict and power struggles between researchers and service-users.
This is not the usual picture, and it should be noted that similar conflicts can arise where
the public members are professionals. The same review describes involvement: a unique
perspective of the lived experience of the condition under investigation is what brings
added value. However, if the experience is expected to be specific to the relevant condition,
this underestimates the ability of the expert patientto relate to experience of other
conditions, which may not be closely related. Each patientsexperienceisunique,sobeing
able to relate to others with the same condition has similarities with relating to people with
other conditions.
Received 20 March 2017
Revised 25 April 2017
Accepted 6 May 2017
Julian Ashton is a Public
Representative on the
Research Committee at Norfolk
and Suffolk NHS Foundation
Trust, Norwich, UK.
DOI 10.1108/JPMH-03-2017-0012 VOL. 16 NO. 3 2017, pp. 123-126, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-5729
j
JOURNAL OF PUBLIC MENTALHEALTH
j
PAG E 12 3

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