A national initiative based at NUIG putting patients at the centre of decision-making on health and social care research has been launched.
Minister of State for Disability Anne Rabbitte has today officially launched the PPI Ignite Network.
Headquartered at NUI Galway, this initiative has programme offices at seven universities across Ireland, a network of local, national and international partners and an expanding group of PPI contributors.
PPI – Public Patient Involvement – aims to produce research that is both more transparent to the public, and more relevant to the needs of patients.
“Nothing about us, without us’ resonates strongly with me and I particularly welcome the emphasis across the PPI Ignite Network on including historically marginalised groups in co-designing research.”
“Involving people who have not had a voice previously can help shape a different and healthier future for so many people in the coming decades,” Anne Rabbitte said.
The network will help to shape the direction of research by having patients and carers collaborate with researchers on what issues are important to prioritise.
The PPI Network has five years of funding now, which will be used to educate students, researchers, policymakers, and the wider public on what this involves.
It will also examine making it easier for the public to get involved in research, including reaching out to marginalised or disadvantaged groups, and create an online PPI hub to share resources, events, and experience.
Professor Seán Dinneen, Consultant Endocrinologist with the Saolta Healthcare Group, is the national lead for the PPI Ignite Network.
He said that it will “drive excellence and inspire innovation” by embedding the role of the patient involvement in research, building partnerships between research groups and community organisations.
Dr. Anne Cody of the Health Research Board said they have been championing PPI in healthcare for more than five years.
“Our work is clearly illustrating that people’s insights and life experience can inform research in ways researchers operating in isolation can’t.”
