Public Involvement
At the MRU we are committed to public involvement in our research. We work in collaboration with patients and members of the public. Patients and members of the public help the research that we do by sitting on oversight and steering groups, by working with us on research ideas and by collaborating with us to design and refine research projects.
We are home to the PEP-R group
PEP-R is a group of people who have had or are having treatment for musculoskeletal conditions and who are interested in contributing to research.
PEP-R stands for ‘The Patient Experience Partnership in Research’. The group meets every few months to help researchers to design research projects.
Examples of projects that PEP-R has collaborated with:
- The colour pain project: focus groups about using colour as a way of assessing pain in knee osteoarthritis. This idea was suggested by a patient partner and the PEP-R group collaborated with the research team to design the focus groups.
- The APEX study: a large randomised controlled trial of pain management at the time of hip and knee replacement operations. PEP-R have provided input into patient information and how best to discuss appointments with patients who are taking part in the study.
Information produced by us in collaboration with North Bristol NHS Trust for researchers thinking about planning public and patient involvement is available in the handbook section of the North Bristol NHS Trust Research and Innovation Website. Download Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) guide (May 2011) for Researchers (PDF, 205 Kb)
For more information about public involvement at the MRU, please contact our Patient and Public Involvement Co-ordinator, Amanda Burston or our Head of Orthopaedics Health Services Research, Rachael Gooberman-Hill.
The work of the PEP-R is featured on the University of Bristol's Public Engagement site.
The PEP-R group has been featured in the Winter 2011-12 edition of the INVOLVE newsletter http://www.invo.org.uk/improving-musculoskeletal-research-in-north-bristol-through-public-participation/
Note: some of the documents on this webpage are in PDF format. In order to view a PDF you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader 