Shared Learning Event

The Wessex Public Involvement Network (PIN) welcomed over thirty patient and public involvement (PPI) professionals, members of the public, and representatives for a virtual Shared Learning Event on 23rd March 2021.

Speakers spoke on a variety of topics encompassing co-production and inclusion within public involvement. Carmel McGrath, a PhD student at the University of Southampton gave an overview of her research exploring the impact of public involvement in health research. Carmel explained how she had used activities in her work with public contributors when analysing qualitative data for two separate research projects. Carmel discussed how the first activity involved public contributors allocating her codes to the themes they felt most relevant. This activity helped to validate or contest Carmel’s interpretations of the data, and she is now working with public contributors to analyse the data and produce a coding framework together as opposed to providing them with codes and themes already developed.

Local successes were also celebrated, with talks from Dr Zoë Sheppard, Head of Research at Dorset County Hospital, about its award-winning volunteer Patient Research Ambassador initiative*, and from Sharon Court, PPI Facilitator at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, about how decentralising research (changing the method or location of research) which could help the Trust’s researchers to mitigate the limiting effects of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

Lucy Upshall, Research Manager at NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating

Centre (NETSCC), gave an analysis of how external factors can affect decision making, explaining that humans don't make rational decisions, but are affected by a variety of factors which can lead to both subconscious and unconscious decisions.

Dr Mel Hughes, Academic Lead for the PIER (Public Involvement in Education and Research) partnership and Deputy Lead for the Research Centre for Seldom Heard Voices, spoke about engaging marginalised groups in research, and the power of involving a wider range of voices. Not considering the barriers to participation often means that those most affected by health, economic and social inequalities often have the least opportunity to shape health and social care research and practice, and PPI is crucial to gaining new perspectives. Without significant changes, PPI will continue to be the same people looking at the same thing with the same outcomes.

Two public contributors, Tess McManus and Doreen Joseph, spoke powerfully on the barriers which prevent ethnic minority people and people living with disabilities from getting involved in research, and that a system of structural discrimination means disabled people or other protected characteristics are consistently failed when accessing health care or services.

The talks were followed by breakout sessions to reflect upon what had been said and what steps needed to be taken to make PPI stronger, more effective, and more representative. Through these conversations and new contacts made, there are plans for more focussed region-wide events, including a series of “bite-sized” learning events for researchers encouraging co-design and innovative PPI methods which suit the communities they are working with.

*The reflections and learnings from the Patient Research Ambassador initiative at Dorset County Hospital will be published as a case study in the Autumn in the Research for All journal.