Follow-up

You’ll need to think about follow up immediately after the PPI activity, as well as longer term follow up

Follow up immediately after the PPI activity

Contact people within two weeks of the PPI activity:

  • Thank them for their time

  • Send any slides or handouts that you used during the activity

  • Say something personal about what you gained from the activity

  • Tell people what you will do as a result of their input

  • Tell them when you will be in touch again – this might not be for six months or a year, but be clear about roughly when this will happen

  • Remind them about any further opportunities for involvement (if there are any)

Longer term follow-up

If you decide to continue to involve people (researchers, patients and carers who took part in this project felt that an ongoing relationship really added value), keep people up-to-date on a regular basis. This does not need to be often – it could be once every six months. Updates could include:

  • Progress reports about the research

  • Information about what you have done in response to PPI

  • Information about other relevant projects in the research team

Useful resources

Practical advice on how researchers can improve feedback to PPI contributors:

Developed by Mathie E., et al, (2018) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Research and Care, East of England.


Parkinson's UK have developed some email templates that researchers can use as a starting point for providing immediate, short and long term feedback to PPI contributors:



“Keep people informed regularly. Give lots of feedback.” (Eileen Knight, PPI contributor)

“At the beginning of the project I wasn’t sure whether I was helping... But that’s changed over the last year or so and I think now, the people that we meet at the universities over a period of time open up more and actually tell us more..." (Jean Tomkow, PPI contributor)