The art of Patient and Public Involvement: exploring ways to research and reduce air pollution through art-based community workshops – a reflective paper

Abstract

In this reflective paper we outline and discuss our art-based Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) approach. This exercise held two broad objectives. Firstly, to assist policy makers in understanding the types of interventions communities will find acceptable to address the problem of poor air quality, and secondly, to ascertain community views about our research plans to explore the impact of the planned interventions on neighbourhoods. We reflect on both our approach and the emergent conversations from the PPI activity. Attendees contributed to the process and stressed the importance of not burdening poor neighbourhoods with costly charges as that would ameliorate one health problem but generate others as a consequence of additional financial burden. Equally, they stressed the need to conduct research on matters which they could connect with such as the impact of clean air plans on young children and how information about air pollution is disseminated in their neighbourhoods as and when research findings emerge. This paper offers a conceptual analysis of the art-based PPI method and uniquely draws a connection to the philosophical traditions of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Specifically, we demonstrate how art is conducive to creating a dialogue which is specifically helpful for PPI purposes for both researchers and implementers, and conversely, why traditional conversational approaches may have fallen short of the adequacy mark in this regard.

“The power imbalance was blown out the window”: developing and implementing creative workshops to enhance communication of statistics in patient and public involvement in clinical trials

“…The creative workshop approach worked well in enabling a perception of shared understanding of treatment important differences and producing prototypes for creative outputs to support its communication to wider audiences. In line with previous literature using creative approaches to improve data literacy or to facilitate patient and public involvement [ 13 , 14 , 17 ], participants confirmed our hypothesis that creative methods can lead to a more democratic experience of discussions around statistical concepts. This is particularly important since tokenism remains a key barrier to meaningful patient and public involvement in health research [ 27 ].…”

“…Creative methods have been proposed in patient and public involvement activities [ 12 – 15 ] including to represent illness experiences through creative outputs [ 13 ] or to enhance communication of data terminology [ 16 ] and statistical methodology research [ 11 ]. Patient and public involvement literature suggests that creative approaches have the potential to reach new and diverse audiences [ 17 ]; facilitate co-creation of knowledge [ 15 ]; and build sustainable partnerships [ 12 ]. Artistic methods in patient and public involvement are often implemented for 2 main reasons [ 17 ]: 1.…”

“…Patient and public involvement literature suggests that creative approaches have the potential to reach new and diverse audiences [ 17 ]; facilitate co-creation of knowledge [ 15 ]; and build sustainable partnerships [ 12 ]. Artistic methods in patient and public involvement are often implemented for 2 main reasons [ 17 ]: 1. The arts offer a space where public partners in research are more willing to engage; 2.…”

Who shouts the loudest? A qualitative study exploring barriers and enablers to implementing a low emission zone in a Northern UK city

“… Rashid et al, 2021 ) and engagement (e.g. Islam et al, 2022 ) in the development of the plans enabled implementers to justify requests for the maximum available funding for grants to allow taxi drivers and businesses to upgrade vehicles.…”