Development of the RIPPLES framework for patient and public involvement in rapid evidence syntheses

Patient and public involvement (PPI) is an expectation and requirement of health and social care research within the United Kingdom. Although there is available guidance on how to practice PPI, to date there have been no frameworks or resources available specifically for PPI in rapid evidence syntheses, where work can be completed in as little as two or three weeks. Our objective was to design a framework to support those doing rapid evidence syntheses to include PPI in their work.

We developed the framework across three stages. First, we undertook a scoping review of published PPI frameworks in health and social care (N = 53) and a survey of key interest-holders (N = 101). The results of these alongside an online workshop with 15 interest-holders (researchers, members of the public, policymakers, PPI professionals) in November 2024 informed the initial development of the framework. We evaluated the draft framework at a second online workshop with 16 interest-holders in January 2025. We analysed the findings from this second workshop to further refine the framework.

The Rapid Involvement of Patients and the PubLic in Evidence Synthesis (RIPPLES) framework guides PPI in rapid evidence syntheses through three interconnected layers: core guiding principles of the UK Standards for Public Involvement at the centre; building continued approaches to patient, public and community engagement; and steps for embedding PPI into individual rapid evidence synthesis projects. An accompanying guidance document and worksheet to plan PPI activities were also developed to aid researchers in using the framework.

RIPPLES is the first framework to provide practical and pragmatic guidance on how to embed PPI within rapid evidence synthesis. The framework will undergo evaluation and refinement, including development of public-facing materials and case studies to supplement current resources.