Please watch this short film which explains why patient and public involvement in mental health research is so important.
Involvement is where members of the public are actively involved in research projects and in research organisations. It is where research is carried out ‘with’ or ‘by’ members of the public rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ them’. Involvement might include helping researchers identify the most important questions to ask or the most important outcomes, helping design projects that make it easy to take part, helping to make sure any written materials are easy to understand, and helping to share the results of research. As a member of the public, a specialised knowledge of the research area is not needed in order to be involved in it. Neither are you required to be a medical expert. You may be asked to speak about your ‘lived experience’. This might be of a condition or illness that you have, or have had. It may be of caring for someone with a condition or illness. It might also be of your experience of using treatments or services, or your view as a public member. What is important is that as a PPI Contributor you are able to bring your own knowledge and experience to the research process, whether as a patient or from your work or personal life. Examples of patient and public involvement include:
- Patient, carer or public as co-applicant on a research project
- Collaborating with researchers to identify research priorities
- As members of a project advisory or steering group
- Co-producing consent forms or patient information
- Ensuring research methods are appropriate for target participants
- Jointly presenting research findings with researchers
Our Involvement Groups include:
Patient and Research Group (PAR)
The Patient and Research Strategy Group is the strategic Patient and Public Involvement group for the OH BRC and was established in December 2016. The purpose of PAR Strategy Group is to actively involve patients, carers, and the public, to work with staff, in the development and delivery of the Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Strategy (PPIE) for the OH BRC to bring together a diverse range of voices and experiences to influence PPIE in research at the OH BRC and help ensure PPIE contributes to improving the quality and effectiveness of research.
ENGAGE Championing Mental Health Research Participation is the Oxford cognitive health Clinical Research Facility (CRF) Patient and Public Involvement group.
The group meets regularly and is involved in a variety of activities and projects with the aim to promote participant involvement, improve the experience of research participants, and raise the profile of research in mental health.
If you are interested in finding out more about ENGAGE email:oxfordhealth.CRF@nhs.net
NeurOx Young People’s Advisory Group (YPAG)
The BRC is committed to ensuring that young people have a voice in mental health research and that we listen to a diverse representation of young people’s views to build an evidence base that is acceptable and authentic to the lives of young people.
The NeurOx YPAG is a group of young people (between 14 and 18 years old) who work with the Neuroscience, Ethics and Society (NEUROSEC) team to help develop methods for working with young people to better understand their views. To find out more visit www.BeGOODeie.com.
These young people also contribute to other mental health research across Oxford University involving children and young people.
Diversity In Research Group
Oxford and Oxford Health BRCs have set u
p a patient and public involvement group. The Diversity in Research Group, a name chosen by its members, aims to make involvement in health research more engaging to diverse communities, especially those not usually involved. Researchers talk to the group about their research and we discuss how it can reach a wider audience.
The members are from communities under-represented in research. Most are from minority ethnic communities and there are also younger adults. To find out more visit Diversity in Research Group | NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre
Some of our Group activities include:
Barriers to involvement – The group is exploring what factors prevent under-served communities from getting involved in research, and is developing an approach to outreach work with them.
Demographic survey design – The group helped design a survey to collect demographic information from PPIE groups across the BRCs. Input from the group has been valuable in designing questions that are not alienating or feel as if they are “just ticking the diversity box”. Once demographic data is collected, we will have a clearer idea of where to focus outreach work.
Register for updates on our involvement opportunities.
We want to make it easier for interested people to find out about opportunities we have for people to get involved in our research.
Join our Patient and Public Involvement Contributor group and we will keep you up to date with any involvement opportunities we have available, along with information about PPI training and related information.
Visit this web page for more details or email PPI.OHBRC@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk for more information.
Information on how Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust manage data in general, including your data subject rights, can be found on the Trust Privacy Notice section of our website.
