By engagement in research, PCORI refers to the meaningful involvement of patients, caregivers, clinicians, and other healthcare stakeholders throughout the research process—from selecting research topics to study, through designing and conducting studies and sharing results.
We believe this makes research more patient-centered, useful, and trustworthy, ultimately leading to greater uptake by clinicians and the broader healthcare community.
"Patient partners" include patients who represent the population that is the focus of a particular study, as well as their family members, caregivers, and the organizations that represent them.
The PCORI-funded research teams in the Transitional Care Evidence to Action Network (TC-E2AN) involve patients and caregivers in their studies in various ways, including:
- Use of patient advisor groups during every phase of the research process
- Patient partners who serve as study co-investigators
- Patients who participate as peer mentors in research studies
Learn more about the projects in the TC-E2AN.
Patient Partner Spotlights
Three PCORI-funded project participants, who have each played key roles in three different projects, share their thoughts about their experiences.
Patient Partners in Action
Journey Mapping
Patient partners on PCORI’s transitional care research projects participated in a journey mapping exercise to share their experiences as members of transitional-care research teams.
Led by PCORI staff from the TC-E2AN and Engagement, participants defined the stages of research as:
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Patient partners participating in the journey mapping exercise at the TC-E2AN’s annual in-person meeting
- Identifying patient partners
- Writing the project proposal
- Recruitment
- Data collection and analysis
- Advocacy & policy development
The group reflected upon their roles and contributions, discussing what information is important to share with researchers during each research stage. Patient partners and TC-E2AN staff shared common themes represented on the journey map with researchers to begin a discussion on how patients can most effectively partner with researchers.
The TC-E2AN will use the results of this exercise to inform upcoming activities to support its project teams and enhance the involvement of patient and family partners.
What's Happening at PCORI?
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute sends weekly emails about opportunities to apply for funding, newly funded research studies and engagement projects, results of our funded research, webinars, and other new information posted on our site.
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