Organizational Factors that Foster Engagement-Capable Environments: A Study of Health Research Networks
How can we get patients more involved in research? The overarching goal of this study is to improve patient engagement in research by investigating organizational factors that contribute to patient engagement and enhance engagement-capacity within health research networks (HRNs).
Over the last decade, there has been a rapidly evolving movement to engage patients as partners in the design, implementation, and mobilization of research. The meaningful engagement of patients, in addition to the inclusion of priorities and outcomes of importance to patients, are increasingly seen as pivotal to improving the relevance, value, and impact of research. This trend has been accompanied by significant investment of fiscal and human resources dedicated to supporting patient engagement and patient-oriented research (POR). HRNs have been at the forefront of these efforts and are expected to bring together leading interdisciplinary researchers and various stakeholders, including patients, to accelerate scientific discovery, foster global excellence, and generate more impactful research.
Despite significant investment, little is known about how HRNs engage with patients or how organizational factors influence engagement-capacity. This presents a unique and timely opportunity to study trail blazing networks at the leading edge of science advancement and to explore the ‘black box’ of engagement within their organizational structures and processes. Specifically, we plan to: 1) examine the organizational factors that contribute to engagement-capacity for patient engagement in HRNs; and 2) develop indicators of engagement-capacity for patient engagement in HRNs. To do so, we will apply a synergistic mixed-methods approach to systematically review the literature and conduct multiple case studies and consensus building activities with HRNs in Canada and the United Kingdom (UK).
Knowledge Translation Outputs
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