Abstract

Purpose Patient and public involvement (PPI) is increasingly central to the delivery of health services research. However it has proved challenging to evaluate the impact of PPI on the implementation of research into clinical practice and health service delivery. We develop a conceptual model explaining how PPI in the research process might impact on implementation. Methodology A scoping review of knowledge translation and implementation science literature was performed to develop a conceptual model of the impact of PPI in research on implementation. A retrospective case study of a research project was used to illustrate the model. Findings We identified five domains in which PPI can impact on the implementation of research into practice. Our review demonstrated that successful implementation depends on 1) developing relational models of knowledge production, 2) valuing experiential knowledge, 3) engaging in collaborative practice, 4) making use of knowledge brokers or tools for knowledge facilitation, and 5) embedding these factors into the implementation context. In our case study we were able to find examples that illustrated each of the five domains of our model. Value Our paper builds on existing endeavour to evaluate the impact of PPI in research, demonstrating that it is possible to model, conceptually, the processes whereby PPI in research might impact on practice and service delivery. By illustrating those processes through our exemplar case we also demonstrate the potential for our model to be ‘operationalised’, allowing the impacts, on practice, of PPI in research to be systematically and directly evidenced.