Public involvement (UK health initiative)

Public involvement (PI, formerly PPI, for Public and Patients' Involvement), in the context of health and care research, is the term for working with lay people (members of the general public, including patients and those close to them) as volunteers in influencing and shaping research. It is a worldwide initiative to give the public an effective, active role in health and care research. The term "health and care" covers healthcare (medical care), public health, and social care. The purpose is to align research more closely with patients' and the public’s needs, skills and experience and thereby increase its success and cost-effectiveness.

It is worth noting that public involvement has long been widespread in other fields than health and care research. In the UK, for instance, volunteers have helped since the Middle Ages in law (Justices of the Peace (JPs), with poor people and the sick, and in rescue. Agreed, in those early days, the volunteers were members of the gentry, there being no middle class yet. On the other hand, before then, all members of society other than the leaders would presumably help out their communities as needed.

PI is the proper term for the involvement in research of anyone not professionally interested or experienced in health and care. (People with a professional background in these fields have plenty of chance to engage in such research.)

Still sometimes used is PPI, public and patients' involvement. The bodies concerned, NIHR and INVOLVE, have used PI rather than PPI since 2017, most notably in the UK Standards for Public Involvement.