Patient Engagement and the Patient Alumni: ORACLE Research Proposals 2021
To quote the UOHI Strategic Plan, Further Together, patient engagement means that patients and health care providers share ideas and discussions about how to improve care. Patient-centered care has always been a core objective of the Heart Institute and the UOHI Patient Alumni, and is the reason that four of our Patient Alumni Board members recently had the privilege of participating in the review of the 29 applications submitted to the ORACLE Innovation Hub Funding Opportunity 2021. This review was conducted with the objective of enhancing patient engagement at each stage of the research process.
Each proposal considered included a lay summary and a section on patient engagement which was assessed by the Committee comprising David “Bud” Cameron, Elizabeth Murphy-Walsh, Stephen Stuart, and Caroline Weber. The Committee members individually reviewed the projects and provided assessments of them based on their understanding of the overall value of the study, how well it was described in lay terms, the prevalence of the health condition, whether or not patients were involved in the design, conduct, interpretation of results, the translation of knowledge, and if patients would be involved in the development of the research project and interpretation and final dissemination of results.
The committee, excellently facilitated by Ann Nguyen of UOHI’s Office of Research Services, then met via Zoom to arrive at a consensus score for each project. The scoring and comments made on each proposal will be shared with the scientific reviewers and ultimately fed back to the applicants with the objective of improving the lay summaries and patient engagement in future research.
Patient engagement in action!
