From theory to practice in training health researchers in patient and public involvement: a scoping review protocol

Abstract

Background: Patient and public involvement (PPI) aims to increase the relevance and impact of research by ensuring that outcomes align with the real needs of those involved. In PPI, the public actively participates in all stages of research, which has been shown to improve research quality, empower participants, and enrich researchers’ understanding of patients’ and the public’s lived experiences. However, implementing PPI poses a challenge for many researchers, making training essential as it provides the necessary skills to incorporate PPI meaningfully into their projects. Thus, this review aims to map existing PPI training programs in health research, identifying effective strategies that can be replicated, thereby contributing to the improvement of health research practices. Methods: The scoping review will adhere to Arksey and O’Malley’s six-step framework and the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist, with results reported following the GRIPP2—Short Form. This review will follow the JBI guidelines for scoping reviews. A PPI group will be established to contribute to the interpretation and discussion of findings and will also be recognized as co-authors of the article. Searches will be conducted in MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Elsevier), EBM Reviews, CINAHL (EBSCO), Scopus, ERIC (EBSCO/ProQuest), Web of Science Core, HealthSTAR (Ovid), and Academic Search Complete. Gray literature searches will be conducted in ASSIA (ProQuest) and Google Scholar. The review will include full-text articles published with no language restrictions, focusing on PPI training programs for health researchers, with no publication date restrictions. Two independent reviewers will screen studies by title and abstract, followed by full-text review. Discussion: The study aims to identify and systematize the approaches used in PPI training programs, providing a foundation to guide researchers in effective PPI implementation. This review may encourage health researchers to integrate PPI as an essential component throughout the research cycle, aligning studies more closely with patients’ needs and experiences. Such alignment has the potential to directly inform public health policies, benefiting the target population. Systematic review registration: 10.17605/OSF.IO/WBDPE. © The Author(s) 2025.