Patient and Public Involvement

We are committed to involving patients, carers, families and local communities as active partners in shaping our research. We want to make sure that people with many different perspectives and experiences have the chance to influence what we do and how we do it. This helps us to focus on what really matters to people.

Patient and Public Involvement is sometimes referred to as PPI.

How can I get involved?

You can get involved in our research by joining our new network, Involve Hull.

We are looking for patients, carers and people who use health and care services to join us.

You can find out more about Involve Hull on the University of Hull website. You can also email InvolveHull@hull.ac.uk.

HHTU PPI Case Studies

CANFit – A personalised home-based exercise programme for patients with cancer in Yorkshire

The CANFit study aims to generate much-needed research on whether a tailored home-based exercise programme could positively impact cancer outcomes and survival. Exercise shows promise in improving cancer patients’ health, yet current evidence is limited.

To ensure the exercise programme meets patient needs and preferences, we collaborated with those diagnosed with or cared for someone with a cancer diagnosis across a series of interactive workshops.

These patient and public involvement members provided invaluable insights rooted in their cancer experiences. Their thoughtful feedback directly shaped key aspects of the study website and intervention components. For example, they offered perspectives on optimising the website content, structure, navigation and design to boost engagement and usability based on their needs as end users. We worked closely with our patient and public involvement members to make the exercise programme patient-centred. Their contribution throughout the planning stages has been integral in shaping the project’s direction.

Looking ahead, we have scheduled ongoing engagement events with patient partners to gather continued perspectives as the programme progresses. Patients will have opportunities to evaluate if it reflects their needs and how it could be improved. Their insights will be crucial in refining the exercise programme to best support people with cancer.

LIPS – Leukaemia in Pregnancy Study

For the Blood Cancer funded Leukaemia in Pregnancy Study, we were looking to establish a UK-wide registry to specifically monitor the management of Acute Leukaemia, or high-risk myelodysplasia in pregnancy, and the associated outcomes for both the mother and neonate.

As part of our application to the Confidentiality Advisory Group and the development of the database, Judith Cohen (Director of HHTU) and John Turgoose (Information systems manager) held a patient and public involvement session to support important elements of the study. The session led to important decisions including when it was appropriate for clinicians to approach patients is what is a sensitive situation and when it would be appropriate to process patient data without consent.