DCU welcomes funding for the establishment of a PPI Ignite Network
DCU welcomes the announcement of funding for the establishment of a PPI Ignite Network. Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) is research carried out ‘with’ or ‘by’ members of the public, rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ them.
A total of €5m in funding to support the development of a network to advance public and patient involvement in all stages of health and social care research has been announced. The Health Research Board (HRB) will fund €2.3 million for the PPI Ignite Network. The Irish Research Council (IRC) €1 million and the higher education core partners, including DCU, €1.7 million of co-funding over five years.
The Network will be established by seven higher education institutions as core partners (DCU, TCD, NUIG, UL, UCC, RCSI and UCD) alongside 10 national and 54 local partners including patient, public, charity, community, education, research and health care organisations. The aim of the PPI Ignite Network is to create a shared voice for PPI in Ireland, to improve the quality of PPI in research and to facilitate opportunities for collaborative learning.
Professor Veronica Lambert from DCU’s School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, Faculty of Science and Health, is the DCU PPI Ignite Network lead. NUI Galway are the Host Institution and will host the PPI Ignite Network Programme Office.
The PPI Ignite Network builds on the mission of PPI Ignite where HRB-IRC funding was provided to build and promote capacity for high quality public and patient involvement in health and social care research in five higher education institutions, including DCU, and within the wider community.
President of Dublin City University Professor Daire Keogh said:
“DCU was proud to play its part in the success of the initial PPI Ignite programmes, and so I warmly welcome the creation of this national network. The PPI ethos aligns with DCU’s ‘people first’ values, as well as our commitment to meaningful collaboration with our communities. The creation of this network underlines our strong belief that the public and patients must be seen as active partners in the delivery of health research that transforms lives and societies.”
Lead for the PPI Ignite Network at DCU Professor Veronica Lambert said:
“We in DCU look forward to focusing on our role in the PPI Ignite Network which aims to; build capacity for meaningful involvement across all stakeholders, create participatory spaces for co-learning from diverse perspectives, support collaborations within and across the network and achieve relevant outcomes for all stakeholders.
This will be achieved in partnership with the other higher education institutions, national partners and our local partners; All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care, Barretstown, Children in Hospital Ireland, Epilepsy Ireland, Health Research Charities Ireland, International Network towards Alternatives and Recovery, Irish Advocacy Network, NetwellCASALA Living Lab at Dundalk Institute of Technology and Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland. ”
Local DCU partners said:
“The development of the PPI Ignite Network in conjunction with a variety of other academic, healthcare, community, patient and public organisations is testimony to the relationships and networks nurtured and built during the initial PPI Ignite programmes. We are excited for the further expansion of these relationships over the next 5 years. ” (Jim Walsh, Training and Development Officer, Irish Advocacy Network)
“Patients and the public have valuable and unique experience and knowledge to contribute to the development, implementation and circulation of research. The announcement of funding for the PPI Ignite Network with numerous patient, public and community organisations as partners affords an opportunity for this knowledge and expertise to be meaningfully included and supported.”(Karen Charnley, Director, All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care)
Commenting on the announcement, Mairead O’Driscoll, CEO of the HRB said:
“Involving people in the work we do and the work we fund leads to improved research, improved outcomes and improved lives. People’s insights and life experience can inform the work in ways researchers operating in isolation can’t.
This new PPI Ignite Network is the next step in the HRB’s national leadership of involving people in research. Working with the Irish Research Council and all the partner institutions, we are helping to ensure that people and patients are involved at every stage of Irish health and social care research, right from the start, before pen is even put to paper for a research proposal.”
Contact:
Media PPI Ignite at DCU
Claire Egan Lucy Whiston
Communications Officer Programme Manager
Dublin City University PPI Ignite at DCU
01 700 7810/086 8653507 ppi@dcu.ie
claire.egan@dcu.ie