Patient and Public Involvement

Patient and public involvement is when members of the public are actively involved in research projects and organisations. Researchers and patients/members of the public work together to design, carry out and report on research. This means patients are members of the research team as colleagues who bring their expertise based on experience of illness and treatment.

What is Patient and Public Involvement?

Patient and public involvement in research tends to be defined by research which is carried out with the active involvement of patients, members of the public, carers, and other interested parties, rather than ‘to’ them or on their behalf.

We describe these people as PPI Partners. PPI partners are involved throughout the research process, from influencing research design to supporting the sharing of results and findings.

In Edinburgh & the Lothians, PPI is supported by a wide network of PPI professionals, and guided by Carol Porteous (PPI Lead for NHS Lothian and nationally).

We support researchers with integrating PPI into their health research - from grant application stage throughout the research lifecycle. We also work with a well-established Patient Advisory Group who input to and shape everything that we do.