Support for researchers to involve, engage, and recruit people with arthritis in research

We want people from diverse backgrounds with lived experience of arthritis to be participants, active partners and leaders in research. In each area of this hub, you can expect to find advice, tips, collated resources and case studies. Find out more about the support we can offer you to work with people who have lived experience of arthritis in your research.

Patient involvement refers to a person with lived experience of arthritis, acting as active partners in research. For example, people with arthritis are involved in setting research priorities and steering the direction of research.

FInd out more about involvement

Patient participation refers to people being recruited to take part in a research study as participants, for example, people with arthritis as subjects in a clinical study.

Find out more about participation

Patient engagement is where information and knowledge about research is shared, for example, people with arthritis attending an open day or research seminar.

Find out more about engagement

Whilst engagement and participation are valuable ways of interacting with patients and the public, we consider involvement to be the gold standard you should strive to implement throughout your research project, from inception to conclusion. Ideally, all three elements should be incorporated.  

Professor Lucy Donaldson, Director of Research at Arthritis UK, introduces our PPIE hub

 

A reflective note about the terminology used throughout: There are many different preferred terms that people use when co-creating together with people living with arthritis. We have used the terms 'Research Partner' and 'Patient Partner' interchangeably within the hub. Equally, we have interchanged 'subject' and participant'. It can be valuable in PPIE partnerships to discuss and agree what terms your research partners would prefer to use, as different groups prefer different terms.