Enhancing Research Impact Through Inclusive Patient Engagement: Lessons from the PEIR-IDEAS Project

Background: Meaningfully engaging patients in research ensures studies are aligned with patient-centered priorities and enhances the real-world impact of findings. The Patient Engaged Research Center at Henry Ford Health specializes in integrating the patient voice into the research process. Objectives: We will demonstrate effective patient engagement at all research stages with the example of our PCORI-funded project (SOE-2022C2-28911), Patient-Engaged Validation of the PEIR Survey Enhanced by Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Acceptance and Safety (PEIR-IDEAS) and its stakeholder team, the Science of EnAgement Team (SEAT). Methods: The SEAT (N = 17) consists of researchers, community members, a physician, health system staff who engage patients in their work, and patients, and meets monthly. We have broken the research process down into 5 steps and meaningfully engaged the SEAT along the way. Step 1. Refining the research question – literature review; Step 2. Selecting the study approach – creating an engagement plan; Step 3. Designing the study and collecting data – choosing recruitment strategies, conducting focus groups; Step 4. Analyzing data – analysis of focus group data, return of aggregate results plan; Step 5. Reporting findings – co-creating a dissemination plan, co-authoring publications and abstracts. Results/Future Applications: Patient engagement in our study led to a myriad of successes, such as including diverse voices into the study and applying new lenses to data analysis. The project resulted in PEIR-IDEAS, a validated scale to measure patient engagement in research. This tool can be disseminated broadly and used to assess and improve patient-centered initiatives.