Critical Perspectives on Public and Practitioner Involvement, Reshaping Quality, Safety, and Accessibility in Applied Research and Healthcare Practice

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last 2 to 3 decades, Public and Professional Involvement, Co-Production and Community Engagement (PPICE) has progressed from being a desirable concern to a central feature and requirement of research and health care practice. As such, working together with members of the public, professionals, and different communities of location, identity, and interest is now recognized as vital to the coproduction of high-quality research, research design, and knowledge (NIHR 2021; NHS England 2023). PPICE work is now also an assessed criterion within every UK, European, and internationally based funding institution and authority. Interest in this area is driven by the identification that PPICE work is largely seen as a critical component for enhancing and improving the quality and accessibility of healthcare services, addressing health inequality, strengthening inclusivity, facilitating learning, and improving collaboration and morale (Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership 2026).

Many of the organisations, institutes, and healthcare providers that seek to build research capacity in communities and commission PPICE research do outline their expectations for academics, practice partners, and researchers to consider when developing and designing research and healthcare provision. These institutions also engage, to an extent, with identifying “good PPICE practice” and aspects of innovation in PPICE work. Yet, there is still a lack of knowledge and understanding concerning the more critical aspects of PPICE work that are associated with concerns and questions such as: ‘who represents this community?’, ‘what rights need to be considered?’, ‘does my positionality affect my decisions?’, ‘is my practice trauma informed?’, and ‘is my approach ethically and sustainably informed?’. Very little emphasis in research is directed at understanding how the voice of marginalised communities and those involved as community or professional members, and group representatives, in relation to how they experience involvement in PPICE processes. In many contexts and subject areas, PPICE work is simply “done” and described, whilst the lived experiences and practice of individuals and groups, and the critical appraisal of PPICE practice, are overlooked or omitted from discussion.

Understanding and having a practical and theoretically informed insight of the critical concerns and innovations in PPICE work in relation to research and healthcare is essential (if we consider the benefits identified above) for a range of stakeholders such as individuals, communities, organisations, academic researchers, research commissioning institutes, and healthcare providers. This special edited collection will seek to bring together empirical researchers from a range of disciplines and subject areas with public and practice partners to engage in a dialogue about the important, critical, and innovative PPICE work being conducted across applied research and healthcare practice contexts. In this collection, we are looking for contributors to engage in a sympathetic critical appraisal of an innovation or concern that occurred during PPICE in a healthcare context. We are specifically looking for contributions that explore the involvement of public/professional members in relation to research that was impactful in shaping the quality, safety, or accessibility of applied research in healthcare practice. Contributions will also be considered that provide theoretical and practical insight into the process of PPICE work that reflect on possible methodological concerns, implications of identified concerns, how concerns were innovatively tackled, and the lessons that can be learned in and across different professional groups, services, and healthcare settings.

References

NIHR (2021). Available online: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/briefing-notes-researchers-public-involvement-nhs-health-and-social-care-research

National Health Service [NHS] England (2023). Available online: https://www.england.nhs.uk/.

Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership [HQIP] (2026) New resources published February 2026. Available online: https://www.hqip.org.uk/news/new-resources-feb26/.

Dr. William McGovern
Dr. Hayley Alderson
Guest Editors

Dr. Hollie Smith
Guest Editor Assistant

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