Facilitating Patient and Public Involvement in basic and preclinical health research.

Abstract

Involving patients in research broadens a researchers field of influence and may generate novel ideas. Preclinical research is integral to the progression of innovative healthcare. These are not patient-facing disciplines and implementing meaningful PPI can be a challenge. A discussion forum and thematic analysis identified key challenges of implementing PPI for preclinical researchers. In response we developed a \"PPI Ready\" planning canvas. For contemporaneous evaluation of PPI, a psychometric questionnaire and an open source tool for its evaluation were developed. The questionnaire measures information, procedural and quality assessment. Combined with the open source evaluation tool, researchers are notified if PPI is unsatisfactory in any of these areas. The tool is easy to use and adapts a psychometric test into a format familiar to preclinical scientists. Designed to be used iteratively across a research project, it provides a simple reporting grade to document satisfaction trend over the research lifecycle.