Patient, caregiver and clinician views on engagement in comparative effectiveness research.

Aim: Describe patient, caregiver and clinician views toward engagement as partners in health research.

Materials & Methods: Online surveys of patients and caregivers managing rare (n = 560 patients, n = 609 caregivers) or chronic conditions (n = 762 patients, n = 776 caregivers) and practicing clinicians (n = 638).

Results: Over half of respondents were unfamiliar with the concept of partnering with researchers but most expressed interest in working in a research partnership.

Patient, caregiver and clinician use of comparative effectiveness research findings in care decisions: results from a national study.

Aim: To assess awareness, use and attitudes concerning comparative effectiveness research (CER) findings.

Materials & Methods: Online surveys of patients and caregivers managing rare (n = 560 patients, n = 609 caregivers) or chronic conditions (n = 762 patients, n = 776 caregivers), and practicing clinicians (n = 638).

Results: Less than half of patients and caregivers reported exposure to any type of CER findings in the past 12 months.

Health researcher views on comparative effectiveness research and research engagement.

Aim: To understand researcher capability for and interest in patient-centered comparative effectiveness research (PC-CER), particularly related to engaging with patients/caregivers.

Materials & Methods: Web-based survey of 508 health researchers recruited via professional health research organizations.

Results: Most respondents (94%) were familiar with CER and many (69%) reported having previously conducting some form of CER.

Engaging patients and consumers in research evidence: Applying the conceptual model of patient and family engagement.

Objective: This essay discusses applying the Conceptual Framework for Patient and Family Engagement to partnerships with patients and consumers to increase their use of research evidence in healthcare decisions. The framework's foundational principles hold that engagement occurs on a continuum across all levels of healthcare-from direct care to policymaking-with patients and healthcare professionals working in full partnership and sharing responsibility for achieving a safe, high-quality, efficient, and patient-centered healthcare system.

Discussion: Research evidence can serve as a critical decision-making tool in partnerships between patients and health professionals.

Unresolved tensions in consumer engagement in CER: a US research perspective.

Efforts to engage patients and consumers in comparative effectiveness research (CER) in the USA are still in the early stages, and the outcomes of these partnerships have yet to be fully understood or realized. Our work assisting federal agencies and national organizations who engage patients and consumers in CER reveal three unresolved tensions around the representation of the patient experience in the research process, the culture of research and capacity to partner with patients and consumers, and the conflict between the methodological approaches to CER and the outcomes of interest to patients and caregivers. Several approaches to address these tensions have emerged, yet resolving these tensions will require addressing many system-level challenges and building an evidence base for consumer engagement in CER.