by Dr Alice Harper, ST3 Academic Clinical Fellow in General Practice, Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol.

Engagement with individuals who hold a direct interest in your findings is an important aspect of research. This process has been known as ‘stakeholder’ engagement but academics have recently critiqued the use of this language and encouraged more inclusive alternative terms. I have chosen to use the term ‘interest holder’ here.

I was recently involved in organising a local engagement event for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded Supporting People to live wELL with multiple long-term health conditions (SPELL) study. I invited members of the public with lived experience, representatives from local and national health and care charities, healthcare professionals working in local general practices, and representatives from the local integrated care board, to spend the afternoon with the SPELL study research team at the Trinity Centre in Bristol.

We shared findings from our study, checked whether they resonated with those in attendance, and brainstormed and prioritised change ideas to improve treatment burden for people with multiple long-term health conditions. Treatment burden is the work that people have to do because of healthcare and the impact of that effort on them.

The experience taught me a lot about what works and what to avoid when planning an interest holder engagement event. Here are my top tips.

1. Be clear on your rationale for engaging interest holders

This is often pre-specified and considered by study teams as part of protocol development. Our protocol detailed we would discuss key findings and implications for primary care services, and co-develop study outputs for dissemination. When planning the workshops, we revisited and revised our rationale to make best use of the limited time and resources we had available to us. We chose to focus on the discussion of key findings then idea generation and prioritisation to inform our next steps.

2. Target your recruitment efforts to get the right people in the room

I would argue that getting the right people in the room is the most important tip to focus on. Various influence and interest matrices exist to help guide you. We opted to invite patients and the public, professionals working in primary care, and local policy makers and healthcare managers.

We found recruitment particularly challenging despite support from the NIHR regional research delivery networks, existing local research networks, Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) coordinators, as well as existing study team contacts. Take time to plan your recruitment strategy. Generic emails with impersonal invitations are too easy to ignore.

We also received feedback from people with extensive PPIE experience that our reimbursement of a £10 shopping voucher plus travel costs cover, was a poor incentive for three hours plus travel time and likely to have negatively impacted our recruitment. Budgets are often tight but reimbursement needs careful consideration, particularly with funder expectations on working with diverse people and communities.

3. Clearly define interest holder roles and modes of interaction in advance

Both the study team and interest holders themselves should be aware of exactly what is being asked of individuals, including their involvement in activities and interactions with others. A draft programme of the event may help guide you. Expectations should be clearly communicated in relevant event advertisements.

4. Do not underestimate the organisation involved

There are lots of practical considerations when planning an event too. Our key considerations were in-person versus virtual, venue choice, consent and data protection, and conflicts of interest. On the day considerations include accessibility, breaks, fire procedures, ground rules, quiet spaces, refreshments, and toilet facilities.

5. Seek feedback from others including patients and the public

Seek feedback from your study team and others in the department. Lots of academics have planned similar events and are happy to share their learning. We were fortunate to have a study Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) group who provided invaluable feedback. Definitely, involve your PPI group in helping to plan and deliver the event.

Event summary and personal reflections

On the day, I enjoyed our event and we achieved what we set out to do. We had a good range of people in attendance who were very engaged and there was lively discussion.
Planning the end of SPELL study event did take a huge amount of work, but I learnt a lot about interest holder engagement and dissemination of research findings. I have also fostered good working relationships with local interest holders that will be invaluable for future academic activities.

If you are interested in learning more about planning an interest holder engagement event, please feel free to contact me: alice.harper@bristol.ac.uk.