Patient and public involvement for mental health researchers
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Patient and public involvement for mental health researchers

Ben Parkinson Lecturer of Nursing, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland; Maggie Lawrence, professor, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland; Jo Booth, professor, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland

Why you should read this article:
  • To understand the concept of patient and public involvement (PPI)

  • To familiarise yourself with the role of PPI in mental health research

  • To improve your knowledge of the practical and ethical implications of PPI

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.

Mental Health Practice. 24, 2, 22-26. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2020.e1481

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

ben.parkinson@gcu.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Parkinson B, Lawrence M, Booth J (2020) Patient and public involvement for mental health researchers. Mental Health Practice. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2020.e1481

Published online: 03 November 2020

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