The article “More than just ticking a box … how patient and public involvement improved the research design and funding application for a project to evaluate a cycling intervention for hip osteoarthritis” has been published in Research Involvement and Engagement 2015, 1: 13. This paper was a collaboration between Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) and the Orthopaedic Research Unit and highlights the importance of involving patients and the public in research, to ensure that the research remains relevant and has an impact on the people it aims to benefit. The research has also been presented as a poster at this years Engage conference.

Feedback from a patient and public involvement (PPI) forum of people with hip osteoarthritis, who had participated in a cycling and education programme, provided invaluable feedback and suggestions which impacted on the design and quality of a research project and its intervention (the cycling and education programme), and therefore strengthened an application to be made for NIHR funding.