Patient and public involvement (PPI) is defined as research done being carried out with or by people with lived experience, rather than to, for or about them. In mental health, this means working together with people with experience of mental health difficulties at different points of the research project (e.g. design stage) or throughout all research stages - from prioritisation to data collection through to dissemination.

Some of our network members are currently going further and adhering to the principles of co-production. Co-production is defined as a model of research whereby researchers, practitioners and people with lived experience work in partnership, sharing power and responsibility from the start to the end of the research project (NIHR, 2018). NIHR have five main principles: The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has developed five main principles for co-production:

• Sharing power
• Including all perspectives and skills
• Respecting and valuing the knowledge of all those working together
• Reciprocity
• Building and maintaining relationships

Find out more about how some of our researchers have adhered to these principles in their work and worked together with young people with experience of mental health difficulties throughout the research project. See our blog and paper.