Once you’ve planned, recruited and inducted patient and public involvement (PPI) representatives, it’s time to deliver your activity. Make sure you’ve taken the time to learn any content you need to present, and that you and all your co-facilitators are clear on what your roles are.
Learn about evaluating your activityFor face to face activities, you might need to:
arrange catering, snacks and drinks
accommodate any accessibility requirements
ensure people have their travel arrangements sorted
print out any slides and resources for the day
bring any paperwork needed for people to claim their expenses back
bring feedback forms and pre-paid envelopes
prepare any activities and discussion prompts
bring markers and flip chart paper for notes
bring name tags, pens and post it notes
complete safeguarding and risk assessments (depending on the meeting location)
Facilitating involvement activities can be a big job and daunting at first, but it gets easier with practice. It’s helpful to remember that the people you involve are there to help you improve your work and any feedback whether positive or constructive, will help you achieve your goals.
As a facilitator your role isn’t just to keep the conversation focussed and on time. Aim to create a welcoming space for everyone to feel valued and safe to participate. Be objective and non-judgmental: effective facilitators take a neutral standpoint, stepping back from their own views to appreciate different viewpoints.
It's also important to remember that different people work and learn in different ways. Practicing active listening can help you pick up on group dynamics so you can tackle any issues or even change your approach if needed to help your participants fully contribute.
These techniques can help keep the conversation moving and on topic, manage dominant individuals, and encourage quieter ones to contribute.
Ask everyone to share their views in turn. It’s helpful to use people's names. If you notice someone is quiet, it’s ok to ask them if they’d like to share their views. Making direct eye contact with someone is a subtler way of inviting them to share their views.
Try and gather a variety of views. If someone is dominating conversation it can be difficult for other people to contribute. A useful technique is to invite other people to respond to what more dominant individuals have said.
It can also be helpful to ask those who have contributed a lot or dominated conversation to be scribes for their table discussions, or to write things on a flip chart to give other members a chance to contribute.
If there are breaks planned, make sure everyone knows you’re available to chat so people who find it difficult to express themselves in a group setting can come and talk to you.
Ask open questions to explore opinions (questions that start with "what, when, where, why, how, tell me", etc)
Pausing after people speak can encourage other people to respond or add their thoughts. Follow up questions can help delve deeper into someone’s responses. These could include questions like: “Can you say a bit more about that, please?” or “Can you expand on this point, please?”
You can also use hypothetical questions to explore views on different scenarios or help put people in someone else's shoes.
Repeat what you’ve heard and ask if you’ve understood correctly. This can help people add to or clarify their views. If you didn't understand what they were trying to say, tell them you don't understand and ask them to repeat or clarify.
If people are getting a bit side tracked, it can be helpful to acknowledge and thank them for their contributions and then repeat the question or the session aims to refocus the conversation.
If there are questions or comments that aren’t on topic or you won’t have time to delve into them, ask participants to write these on a post-it note so you can keep it and follow-up at the end or after the involvement activity (eg via email). Make sure to follow up on any questions or comments, so you don’t miss any valuable information and so nobody feels ignored.
Writing comments on a flip chart or whiteboard at the front of the room can help you capture key themes but also help attendees feel listened to and valued. During small group discussions, ask facilitators or a volunteer scribe to capture comments on their own flip chart paper. Make sure everything that is said is captured.
When lots of views are being discussed it can be useful to ask groups to put their responses into themes. It’s easier to do this if they’re capturing their views on post-it notes. You can also group responses in themes if small groups are feeding back to the whole group, or you’re having a whole group discussion.
If people aren’t following the agreed ways of working, it’s helpful to remind the group of your expectations. If someone persistently breaks the agreements you may need to have a quiet word with them.
Acknowledge their positive contributions, reflect on what negative behaviours you’ve noticed and give feedback on how this impacts others. Remind them of the importance of listening to others, respecting their views, and making space for everyone to contribute.
When you’re talking with PPI representatives or delivering any patient involvement activity, people shouldn’t be able to tell your opinion. Make sure questions are balanced, neutral, and don’t lead respondents to answer in a certain way.
You should watch out for any non-verbal cues that might make the people feel like you approve or disapprove of certain answers.
This is where individuals agree with other people's opinions, often without voicing their own. This is sometimes an effort to maintain harmony or a belief that their idea isn’t as good.
One technique to avoid groupthink is asking people to write their ideas on post it notes individually before sharing with the wider group for discussion.
Some of the people you involve may be very close to their cancer experience and the discussion may trigger difficult feelings or memories for them. Sensitivity is essential. Try not to ask questions that are too personal or might offend or upset them.
Discussing cancer experiences can be hard so it’s important all attendees and staff are being sensitive and respectful to each other’s personal experiences. Remind people that they are allowed to take a break at any time if they find the discussion upsetting or triggering.
Cancer can be an emotional subject. Sometimes talking about cancer and people’s experiences of it can be difficult and make people upset. If you notice someone’s looking upset, show empathy and quietly check in with them and ask if they’re okay.
You might ask them if they’d like to step out for a moment, whether they want company or want to have a moment to themselves. Make sure to reassure them they can stop and leave at any point if they want to.
If they want to talk, listen but don’t try to console them. Signpost them to a support service instead like our Cancer Research UK nurses or Macmillan. If they decide to come back to the discussion, try to check in with them throughout the day and be sure to follow up after and thank them for their contributions.
Ask our nurses a question
You’ll need to budget for any costs associated with your involvement activity and be clear about what you’re able to cover before you recruit anyone.
We’ve put together advice, useful templates and case studies to help you when planning, delivering and evaluating your PPI activities.
Writing in plain English or ‘lay’ can help your audience, people affected by cancer, members of the public, or professionals, understand your message exactly as you meant it.
