Engagement of older adults with multimorbidity as patient research partners: Lessons from a patient-oriented research program
Background: Patient “engagement” in health research broadly refers to including people with lived experience in the research process. Although previous reviews have systematically summarized approaches to engaging older adults and their caregivers in health research, there is currently little guidan...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2021-03-01
|
Series: | Journal of Comorbidity |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/2633556521999508 |
id |
doaj-d2ae8ad416064f9c83ad7837261e88a8 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-d2ae8ad416064f9c83ad7837261e88a82021-03-17T21:33:28ZengSAGE PublishingJournal of Comorbidity2235-042X2021-03-011110.1177/2633556521999508Engagement of older adults with multimorbidity as patient research partners: Lessons from a patient-oriented research programMaureen Markle-Reid0Rebecca Ganann1Jenny Ploeg2Gail Heald-Taylor3Laurie Kennedy4C McAiney5Ruta Valaitis6 McMaster Institute for Research on Aging, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada McMaster Institute for Research on Aging, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Department of Health, Aging and Society, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Aging, Community and Health Research Unit, , Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Aging, Community and Health Research Unit, , Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Murray Alzheimer Research & Education Program (MAREP), , Waterloo, Ontario, Canada McMaster Institute for Research on Aging, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, CanadaBackground: Patient “engagement” in health research broadly refers to including people with lived experience in the research process. Although previous reviews have systematically summarized approaches to engaging older adults and their caregivers in health research, there is currently little guidance on how to meaningfully engage older adults with multimorbidity as research partners. Objectives: This paper describes the lessons learned from a patient-oriented research program, the Aging, Community and Health Research Unit (ACHRU), on how to engage older adults with multimorbidity as research partners. Over the past 7-years, over 40 older adults from across Canada have been involved in 17 ACHRU projects as patient research partners. Methods: We developed this list of lessons learned through iterative consensus building with ACHRU researchers and patient partners. We then met to collectively identify and summarize the reported successes, challenges and lessons learned from the experience of engaging older adults with multimorbidity as research partners. Results: ACHRU researchers reported engaging older adult partners across many phases of the research process. Five challenges and lessons learned were identified: 1) actively finding patient partners who reflect the diversity of older adults with multimorbidity, 2) developing strong working relationships with patient partners, 3) providing education and support for both patient partners and researchers, 4) using flexible approaches for engaging patients, and 5) securing adequate resources to enable meaningful engagement. Conclusion: The lessons learned through this work may provide guidance to researchers on how to facilitate meaningful engagement of this vulnerable and understudied subgroup in the patient engagement literature.https://doi.org/10.1177/2633556521999508 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Maureen Markle-Reid Rebecca Ganann Jenny Ploeg Gail Heald-Taylor Laurie Kennedy C McAiney Ruta Valaitis |
spellingShingle |
Maureen Markle-Reid Rebecca Ganann Jenny Ploeg Gail Heald-Taylor Laurie Kennedy C McAiney Ruta Valaitis Engagement of older adults with multimorbidity as patient research partners: Lessons from a patient-oriented research program Journal of Comorbidity |
author_facet |
Maureen Markle-Reid Rebecca Ganann Jenny Ploeg Gail Heald-Taylor Laurie Kennedy C McAiney Ruta Valaitis |
author_sort |
Maureen Markle-Reid |
title |
Engagement of older adults with multimorbidity as patient research partners: Lessons from a patient-oriented research program |
title_short |
Engagement of older adults with multimorbidity as patient research partners: Lessons from a patient-oriented research program |
title_full |
Engagement of older adults with multimorbidity as patient research partners: Lessons from a patient-oriented research program |
title_fullStr |
Engagement of older adults with multimorbidity as patient research partners: Lessons from a patient-oriented research program |
title_full_unstemmed |
Engagement of older adults with multimorbidity as patient research partners: Lessons from a patient-oriented research program |
title_sort |
engagement of older adults with multimorbidity as patient research partners: lessons from a patient-oriented research program |
publisher |
SAGE Publishing |
series |
Journal of Comorbidity |
issn |
2235-042X |
publishDate |
2021-03-01 |
description |
Background: Patient “engagement” in health research broadly refers to including people with lived experience in the research process. Although previous reviews have systematically summarized approaches to engaging older adults and their caregivers in health research, there is currently little guidance on how to meaningfully engage older adults with multimorbidity as research partners. Objectives: This paper describes the lessons learned from a patient-oriented research program, the Aging, Community and Health Research Unit (ACHRU), on how to engage older adults with multimorbidity as research partners. Over the past 7-years, over 40 older adults from across Canada have been involved in 17 ACHRU projects as patient research partners. Methods: We developed this list of lessons learned through iterative consensus building with ACHRU researchers and patient partners. We then met to collectively identify and summarize the reported successes, challenges and lessons learned from the experience of engaging older adults with multimorbidity as research partners. Results: ACHRU researchers reported engaging older adult partners across many phases of the research process. Five challenges and lessons learned were identified: 1) actively finding patient partners who reflect the diversity of older adults with multimorbidity, 2) developing strong working relationships with patient partners, 3) providing education and support for both patient partners and researchers, 4) using flexible approaches for engaging patients, and 5) securing adequate resources to enable meaningful engagement. Conclusion: The lessons learned through this work may provide guidance to researchers on how to facilitate meaningful engagement of this vulnerable and understudied subgroup in the patient engagement literature. |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1177/2633556521999508 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT maureenmarklereid engagementofolderadultswithmultimorbidityaspatientresearchpartnerslessonsfromapatientorientedresearchprogram AT rebeccaganann engagementofolderadultswithmultimorbidityaspatientresearchpartnerslessonsfromapatientorientedresearchprogram AT jennyploeg engagementofolderadultswithmultimorbidityaspatientresearchpartnerslessonsfromapatientorientedresearchprogram AT gailhealdtaylor engagementofolderadultswithmultimorbidityaspatientresearchpartnerslessonsfromapatientorientedresearchprogram AT lauriekennedy engagementofolderadultswithmultimorbidityaspatientresearchpartnerslessonsfromapatientorientedresearchprogram AT cmcainey engagementofolderadultswithmultimorbidityaspatientresearchpartnerslessonsfromapatientorientedresearchprogram AT rutavalaitis engagementofolderadultswithmultimorbidityaspatientresearchpartnerslessonsfromapatientorientedresearchprogram |
_version_ |
1724218114113011712 |