Exploring remote working practices for patient public involvement and engagement in health and social care research - responding to Covid-19 and rising health inequalities

This study has been prompted by the shift to remote forms of working in patient public involvement and engagement (PPIE) brought on by Covid-19 prevention measures. Due to shielding and social distancing the usual ways of involving the public (such as face-to-face meetings and events) are not possible and, even with the easing of lockdown, remote working is likely to continue. This creates particular challenges for ensuring access and engagement from all parts of society. There is a digital divide that maps onto existing socio-economic inequalities, and PPIE conducted remotely has the potential to further disenfranchise already disadvantaged groups. This study aims to facilitate and improve ways of doing PPIE remotely and increase the diversity of public contributors in health and social care research. Our objectives are to: 1. Understand the barriers and facilitators to remote working, by: a. Exploring public contributors and PPIE professionals' experiences of remote PPIE. b. Exploring public contributors' preferences for different types of remote working. 2. Develop mechanisms for implementing improvements in remote working and ways to increase diversity in PPIE by: a. Conducting a rapid review of research and 'how to guides'. b. Develop training packages. We will recruit public contributors involved in research projects across the UK: the NIHR, charities, universities and other research organisations and people involved professionally with PPIE. This is a mixed-methods study with: surveys, qualitative interviews, and a discrete choice experiment. We will produce an analysis of how remote working in PPIE is affected by socio-economic and health inequalities, make recommendations for improving practice and develop training packages.