A scoping review on the use of patient and public involvement in the design and conduct of implementation research
What were we trying to do?
This scoping review aimed to scope the literature on the use of patient and public involvement in the design and running of implementation research, to produce a catalogue of involvement.
Why was it important?
Findings from healthcare research are often not turned into practice. Implementation research is the study of ways to help integrate evidence-based interventions into practice and policy to improve people's health.
Most implementation research aims to understand and change the ways healthcare professionals work. The users of implementation research are also mostly healthcare professionals.
Although Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in clinical research is recognised as best practice and is now a requirement for funders globally, little was known about the role of patients and the public in implementation research. So, there was a need for a review to explore how patients and the public have been involved in implementation research, and the reported benefits to the research, researchers, and patients.
How did we do it?
We conducted a scoping review, in line with Arksey and O'Malley's [1] five stage approach. We:
- Identified the research question
- Identified relevant studies
- Selected studies
- Charted the data
- Collated, summarised and reported the results.
Findings
535 unique records were identified and 12 of these records were analysed. 8 types of PPIE activity were found in the analysed studies, with researchers mostly consulting with patients and members of the public via:
- feedback sessions
- committee representation
- roundtable discussions.
The things that made it easier or more difficult to involve patients and members of the public in implementation research were usually researcher-related. They included attempts to build, maintain and negotiate relationships with public contributors over time. The amount of time and money available for PPIE was also an important factor.
Most of the studies said that PPIE enhanced the cultural appropriateness of trials and community-based programmes and made it more likely that they would continue. But overall there was not much formal evaluation of the use of PPIE in implementation research.
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More information
Research Associate
Dr Amy Mathieson