Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) in the Musculoskeletal Research Unit

In the Musculoskeletal Research Unit, the PPIE team co-work with patients, members of the public and communities in a number of different ways to ensure meaningful PPIE. Some examples of how we do this are:

• Running regular forum meetings with established patient groups – these can be general musculoskeletal groups e.g. PEP-R or groups with members who have lived experience relevant to a specific project e.g. INFORM (prosthetic joint infection) or STAR (chronic pain after knee replacement) 
• Working with patients or members of the public on a 1:1 basis
• Supporting patient representatives to attend study steering groups or be co-applicants on grants
• Working with local community groups

Our engagement with the local community

We know that certain communities are underserved in healthcare and research. From initial link-building conversations with local community leaders, we have learnt that traditional PPIE methods, such as inviting people to attend group meetings at a hospital, present barriers for community members. We understand therefore that we need to take PPIE to communities in appropriate, accessible and culturally sensitive ways.

Going forward, we will involve people from underserved communities in all stages of our research, from identifying research priorities through to the conduct of research and sharing of findings.

We were awarded a grant from the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research, University of Bristol and the Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund to work with Bristol-based community groups. From this work, we have co-produced the CHICO checklist, which provides guidance on inclusive approaches to involvement of community groups in health research. We have published these findings in Research Involvement and Engagement. We also commissioned a local artist to produce an illustration of our findings:

Impact of PPIE

We published an editorial on 'Involving Patients in Research: Considering Good Practice' in the Journal 'Musculoskeletal Care'. The editorial describes our evaluation of the impact of the PEP-R group on patients and researchers.

We have also published an evaluation of PPIE called Value, transparency, and inclusion: A values-based study of patient involvement in musculoskeletal research in the journal 'PLos One'.

How does the PPIE team work?

We can provide support for PPIE in new grant applications from the Musculoskeletal Research Unit. PPIE is bespoke to each project, so please get in touch with us as soon as possible in the grant application process. We will discuss the project with you, and as a team can offer you different levels of support:

PPIE model	Level of support required for PPIE co-ordinator
Design of PPIE activities Drafting of PPIE sections of the grant application (in collaboration with the Lead Applicant) Supporting involvement of patients/members of the public as co-applicants PPIE costings Delivery and co-ordination of PPIE activities Management of PPIE budget Public dissemination.	10-20% FTE of PPIE co-ordinator’s time
PPIE oversight and expertise, providing support and advice for another member of the research team to deliver PPIE activities.	5% FTE of PPIE co-ordinator’s time

Costing PPIE activities

Payment guidance for PPIE is available from the NIHR. The PPIE team can help you with the costings for your grant application. An outline of the costs that you will need to consider are:

• PPIE co-ordinator time: 5-20%FTE at Senior Research Associate level (mid-point Grade J)
• Reimbursement of patients/members of the public time: Recommended £25 per hour, including preparation time for meetings, meeting attendance and any follow-on actions
• Consumables: Printing and postage of documentation, translation
• Catering for face-to-face meetings or events
• Travel to meetings: Appropriate reimbursement of travel and parking costs (recommended minimum of £40 for local travel) or £5 for work at home costs
• Community-based work: Funding for PPIE co-ordinator travel, venue hire, catering and translators
• Dissemination: Illustrators/infographic creation, translation

Please contact Vikki Wylde (v.wylde@bristol.ac.uk) as early as possible in your grant application process so that the PPIE team can help support you to ensure/develop meaningful PPIE within your proposal.