PPI in research: a reflection from early stage researchers

BACKGROUND: The importance of patient and public involvement (PPI) in the design and conduct of health research projects is gaining widespread recognition; however, it is still a developing area. Furthermore, PPI in methodological health research can help increase research value Thus, it is of great importance that researchers, especially early stage researchers continue to discuss and learn about the future challenges and opportunities of PPI. OBJECTIVE: With this commentary, we aim to disseminate i) key messages from a recent PPI training event and ii) discuss what early stage researchers (ESRs) in the “Methods in Research on Research” (MiRoR) project can do to improve our current and future work by considering and incorporating PPI. MAIN BODY: The latest MiRoR network meeting held at the University of Split in Croatia (2nd-3rd October), included a PPI training session with presentations from Mr. Stephens a patient, about “Waste in research” and Dr. Westmore a funder on “Research integrity”, followed by smaller round-table discussions. This provided early stage researchers (ESRs) with an opportunity to discuss and explore the benefits and challenges of PPI in research, and the appropriate questions and research that is required for improving the implementation of PPI in clinical research. CONCLUSION: As with intervention research, PPI is also important for methodological research since this will help to increase both the value, integrity and quality of research. By providing early stage researchers with appropriate educational, interactive and real-world training, this will introduce the various merits and challenges associated with PPI in early-stage research.