A very welcome editorial in the BMJ will I hope give greater strength to the growing movement for provision of patient involvement in research.
I have been an ‘involved patient’ for 16 years. In the early days getting to understand research was the first challenge, we had no training available to us. Our professional research colleagues could hardly be more welcoming but were actually confused about how to handle us, could not recognise situations we could help with, and sometimes could not even handle the questions we asked. So we learned together.
There were a few enlightened researchers and leading doctors in those early days. It is almost unfair to pick two out for comment but they were outstanding in their recognition of the issues and in the way that they addressed them. Professor Sir Mike Richards, the first National Cancer Director, and Professor Peter Selby, the first Director of NCRN and later what is now NIHR CRN. Both realised that what they were changing was a process and that it would take time. We all wanted it to be quicker but there is an inertia in the affairs of man which means that changing established cultures can rarely be rushed.
There was a lot of pressure in the early years to demonstrate the ‘value’ of patient involvement as an intervention. By assessing its direct impact on a research project through something which may be as simple as a consent information sheet, the hypothesis was that the impact must be measurable. This question is still heard in Europe, voiced by research communities who do not want, for whatever reasons, to recognise the role that patients can play. Such assessment requires some kind of baseline against which the changed outcome can be compared. Most attempts to describe the impact of patient involvement in these terms have been trivial at best and laughable in many cases. Publication in a peer-reviewed journal is noticeably hard to find.
Patient involvement in research is about changing the processes by which research progresses. It does not change the science, although questions raised may cause design modifications by the scientists, but it modifies the environment – the timing, the nature of discussion, the emphases placed at different times, the interactions between team members etc. It will also bring in a different consideration of the impacts on patients entering the study, the ethical boundaries, the nature of communications with patients, and can play a part in deciding about data analyses and the promotion of results.
Even in the UK where patient involvement is now almost ubiquitous in healthcare research, this difference is not fully understood. Many research groups pride themselves on patient involvement which is in fact quite trivial, They involve patients in reviewing patient issues raised by their studies, reviewing consent information, sitting on Trial Management Committees, but have resisted a deeper involvement in the whole research process. That is their next step.
This puts an interesting burden on the researchers who are in such partnerships with patients. They must start to more consistently integrate their patients in everything they do. They must also report their subjective responses to these partnerships and the way they evolve so that we can build a picture of value which can help the more recalcitrant recognise the importance of involvement. We, the patients, cannot do this alone.
I welcome steps such as this week’s announcement by the BMJ that from next year it will not only require researchers to report on their patient involvement activity but also on the dissemination of their results to patients.
Every bit as important is the growing reach of the Biomed Central journal Research Involvement & Engagement. RI&E is the only peer-reviewed journal dedicated to papers on patient involvement. (I declare an interest – I am on the Editorial Board).
The moment is right for the debate about patient involvement to widen and develop on an informed basis. We have to find the mechanisms to create a common understanding of where we are today, the different models of involvement, the perceptions and expectations which we have individually and collectively based on the experiences we have had, and the reports of innovative practice and clearer thinking which have come through in the publication of papers on different implementations. We have the opportunity to define an agenda which sits comfortably with the research community and which can be implemented pragmatically, ultimately for patient benefit.
There are some underlying ‘big’ issues to address as well. One is how can involved patients hold their research partners to account, should that be necessary. Another thorny issue is should involved patients be remunerated in some way and how can this be done without conflicting with their independence.. Even if some of these issues cannot be answered they can be clearly defined and understood. Maybe some form of guidance can be offered. Contributions to the ongoing debate would always be accepted by interested journals.
Despite these complications the underlying rationale for patient involvement in research is simple. Research is a collaborative activity which should maximise quality by including representation from all those with a stake in it. The (over-used) patient mantra, ‘nothing about us without us’, probably applies here more than anywhere else.