Patient and public involvement (PPI) involves working with patients and/or members of the public to make mental health research more relevant for those using mental health services. The importance of PPI means that it is necessary for mental health researchers to understand the practical and ethical issues involved. PPI can make a positive contribution to mental health research, but mental health researchers need to consider how to ensure PPI is meaningful and to identify the optimal methods for its evaluation. It is also important that PPI is undertaken ethically by considering issues of consent, professionalisation, authorship, payment and tokenism.

Involvement in PPI should be voluntary, inclusive and collaborative and mental health researchers need to anticipate the potential practical and ethical challenges involved and develop strategies to deal with these effectively.