At the end of June, I attended the tenth edition of the University of Limerick’s annual Public Patient Involvement Summer School, together with Helen Rochford-Brennan (Global Dementia Ambassador, Vice Chair of the Irish Dementia Working Group and former Chairperson of the European Working Group of People with Dementia). This was the first year that I attended the Summer School and I was really impressed! It was a great mix of researchers, Public Patient Involvement (PPI), academics, advocates and funders. The plenaries were incredible. Ghislaine Rouly from Canada was an inspiration and the work she has achieved is incredible: Ghislaine Rouly, CPCRN Patient Partner, named as co-director of the Canada Research Chair | Canadian Primary Health Care Research Network
Workshops covered Ethics, co-creating PPI framework and incorporating PPI in grant applications. The most thought-provoking was Plenary 2 which looked at “A Decade of PPI in Ireland - Hope, Hurdles and Honest Reflections”. This really was the beginning of an open and honest conversation which will definitely continue around how PPI is developing in Ireland. We have come along way with PPI, here, but unfortunately, like any life experiences, there is good and bad. The theme that emerged at the session was the experience by several of bullying on both sides of the fence. This is something that has been brewing for some time but had not been spoken about at any event I have attended so far. I have been involved in PPI since 2013, and then got completely immersed in 2016 when I was invited to join the https://primarycaretrials.ie/ Helen and I are both members of the Public Advisory Board • PPI Ignite Network
Link to full story on UL website: University of Limerick putting patients first in collaborative research at 10th annual UL PPI event | news.myScience / news
Pictured (left to right): Laura O'Connor, Network Manager, Denis Mocker, John Gaffey from the PPI Ignite Network National Office, Carmel Geoghegan, Helen Rochford Brennan