Emotion in public involvement: A conceptual review

Area of Science:

• Public involvement in research
• Emotional labor in research settings
• Patient and public involvement (PPI)

Background:

• Experiential knowledge offers valuable patient and carer perspectives in research design.
• Emotional aspects of experiential knowledge can pose challenges in formal research settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the role and impact of emotions within public involvement in research.
• To understand the emotional labor involved in patient and public involvement (PPI).

Main Methods:

• Conceptual review of 18 articles from a structured Scopus search (2021, 2022) on 'emotion' and PPI.
• Inclusion of theory-generating articles on emotion and emotional labor.
• Reflective analysis by a co-author team of researchers and public collaborators.

Main Results:

• Emotional connections to research topics can lead to both stress and catharsis for PPI contributors.
• 'Emotional work' is integral when individuals share experiential knowledge.
• The emotional dimension of 'lived experience' must be acknowledged in PPI planning and facilitation.

Conclusions:

• Public collaborators often undertake 'emotion work,' which can be taxing.
• Research environments can exacerbate or mitigate the emotional impact on public contributors.
• Researchers and institutions must adapt meeting spaces to acknowledge the emotional labor inherent in PPI.