Patient & public involvement in community research

The value of engaging patients and member of the public in research is widely acknowledged in UK policy and the literature. Best Research for Best Health: A new National Health Research Strategy (DH, 2006) emphasised the importance of involving service users and carers in the research process and it is a requisite of applications to funding bodies such as the Clinical Trials Advisory and Awards Committee (CTAAC) and the Department of Health (Research for Patient Benefit). Although the principle of involving patients and the wider public in research seems straightforward in theory, what does it mean for nurses in practice? Using the research literature and the experiences of the authors as academic and user researchers, we aim to explore the ways in which nurses may actively engage service users and carers in research undertaken in the community. First, though, it is important to ask what is meant by patient and public involvement in research.