Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE): defined by INVOLVE research being carried out ‘with’ or ‘by’ members of the public rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ them. Engagement refers to raising awareness and knowledge about research to the public.
An evidence synthesis brings together and summarises information from many different research studies to produce evidence to help inform decisions by people such as the public, researchers, policy makers and funders. Evidence Synthesis Ireland wants to make high-quality and trustworthy evidence syntheses more accessible, useable and understood by the general public.
There are some challenges in presenting the complexities of why evidence syntheses, including systematic reviews, are relevant and important to the public. But together we can do this. We work closely with our public and patient partners in re-imagining how evidence syntheses might best be communicated to a public audience. This work helps us learn how to best involve the public in our work.
We value the expertise and influence that patients and the public bring to how we plan, do and share the results of evidence syntheses.
We aim to support researchers to meaningfully involve public and patient partners in the evidence syntheses they produce, ensuring that outcomes are important to public and patients. We aim to build capacity in public and patient involvement in evidence synthesis through webinars, sharing of resources and training to increase the involvement of the public in reviews.
The main purpose of involving patients and the public in Evidence Synthesis Ireland’s activities is to develop our understanding of how to improve health research for public and patient benefit. We see this as an opportunity for mutual development and learning.
Our activities are guided by our International Advisory Board Hon Prof Derek Stewart (UK), and Maureen Smith (Cochrane Consumers) and span the following themes:
We offer complimentary places to members of the public at our events (i.e. public, patients or carers not supported by an organisation). Email esi@universityofgalway.ie for more details.
