Stroke Hub Wales in collaboration with the Stroke Association Public and Patient Involvement Committee
The NHS National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) defines Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) as ‘an active partnership between patients and/or members of the public and researchers. Involvement is distinct from participation in research: patients and the public you actively involve are contributing to the research process as advisers and possibly also as co-researchers’ (NHS, NIHR, 2014).
According to the Stroke Association (SA) PPI ‘can improve the quality and relevance of research, ensure accountability for public or charity funding, and can empower patients and carers by providing them with a route to influence change and improvement on issues which concern people the most’ (Stroke Association, 2019). Funders now require researchers to involve stroke survivors, carers and the public in the development of their applications as either advisers and/or in coproduction.
On the 14th of March 2019, Stroke Hub Wales (SHW) in collaboration with the SA (Bridgend County Life after Stroke Support Group) set up the SHW/SA PPI Committee. This committee will serve as a resource providing PPI reports and coproduce research studies together with our Stroke clinicians, Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) and researchers in Wales. The governance framework will consist of a chair (Mrs Karyl Carter) a coordinator (Dr Abdul Seckam), a core (clinician, AHP, stroke survivor, stroke carer and a member of the public) and SHW/SA PPI members. The group will meet on a quarterly basis and as and when projects arise. SHW/SA PPI committee have already consulted on three projects at the launch and have several projects in the pipeline. We look forward to serving our Welsh clinicians, AHPs and researchers in advancing the stroke research and innovation agenda in Wales. To access the SHW/SA PPI committee for funding applications and/or coproduction, please contact Dr Abdul Seckam (SHW Manager) at aseckam@cardiffmet.ac.uk.
References
- NHS National Institute for Health Research (2014). Accessed on 10.03.19 from https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/CCF/funding/how-we-can-help-you/RDS-PPI-Handbook-2014-v8-FINAL.pdf
- Stroke Association (2019). Accessed on 10.03.19 from https://www.stroke.org.uk/news/our-patient-public-involvement-ppi-training-day