It is becoming increasingly important for researchers to show how they involve patients and members of the public in research and what difference it makes. Funders, journal publications and public contributors now expect to see evidence of involvement.

To support researchers to do this, Oxford researchers have developed a recording tool that can be used to take note of PPI activities, the decisions that resulted from the input, and provide an opportunity to reflect and learn.

The tool is being piloted and can be accessed below or here on Open Science. 

The tool will be continually improved based on feedback but is ready to use now – and all researchers are encouraged to do so.

Researchers can also use the GRIPP reporting checklists to improve reporting of patient and public involvement in research.

Evidencing impact of PPIE

Some resources showing evidence of PPIE impact:

• Brett J, et al. (2014) Mapping the impact of patient and public involvement on health and social care research: a systematic review. Health Expect. 17(5):637-50. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22809132
• Crocker JC, et al. (2017) Is it worth it? Patient and public views on the impact of their involvement in health research and its assessment: a UK-based qualitative interview study. Health Expect. 20(3):519-28. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/hex.12479
• Crocker JC, et al. (2018) Impact of patient and public involvement on enrolment and retention in clinical trials: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 363:k4738. Available at: http://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k4738.abstract
• Russell J, Fudge N, Greenhalgh T. (2020) The impact of public involvement in health research: what are we measuring? Why are we measuring it? Should we stop measuring it? Res Involv Engagem. 6:63. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33133636