New website to help put the public at the heart of research
A new free digital planning tool is available to help researchers put patients and the public at the heart of their work.
Plan4PPIE.com is an online planner, funded and developed by NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), in collaboration with the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University.
It was designed to support researchers and make it as easy as possible for them to plan out their Patient Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) activity – ensuring that the public are at the heart of research.
PPIE means working with patients and the public from diverse backgrounds to shape research, as well as making sure research work is clearly communicated, while feedback is encouraged.
Plan4PPIE.com includes a range of tools to help researchers, including a planning exercise which can be tailored to the relevant stage of the research cycle. Once completed, all information can be downloaded into a useful plan.
Kasia Kurowska, PPIE Manager for the NIHR Newcastle BRC, CRF and MIC said:
“The NIHR Newcastle BRC’s goal is to encourage a culture of active patient and public involvement (PPI), where research is carried out with or by members of the public rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ them. As part of our aim to support researchers and put the public at the heart of our research, we have developed this free digital planning tool.
Our hope is that Plan4PPIE will become an invaluable resource to any researcher who would like to ensure that PPIE activity is embedded in their research. The questions asked in this planner are all the types of questions a PPIE professional would pose to a researcher to help them develop the best possible PPIE plans.
Importantly this tool enables researchers to consider PPIE at different stages of the research cycle, how they will ensure their research is diverse and inclusive and how they will measure impact.”