Patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) emphasizes the involvement of patients and other interested stakeholders during study design, implementation, and evaluation. We provide an example of PCOR using “research democracy”—a process in which individuals involved in research (e.g., team members, participants, and advisors) have a vote and a voice in the decisions that are made and the procedures that are used to conduct the research. We describe the Nueva Vida Intervention study and the strategies used to strengthen team management and team cohesion and to utilize team diversity as an asset. We collected data on team engagement through informal observations, direct discussions, and survey assessments. Team members overwhelmingly agreed that using research democracy approaches increased mutual trust and an individual’s level of influence during the study. Identified barriers indicated the importance of effective communication and the challenges with recruitment, while the benefits included a heightened sense of collaboration and a better understanding of the research process. Initial results suggest that team engagement and research democracy approaches are advantageous to conducting an efficient and effective study, thereby improving PCOR and ultimately benefiting the patients and their caregivers.
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