A Study Examining the Usefulness of a New Measure of Research Engagement

Deborah J Bowen; Nicole Ackermann; Vetta Saunders Thompson; Andrea Nederveld; Melody Goodman

doi:10.1007/s11606-021-06993-1

A Study Examining the Usefulness of a New Measure of Research Engagement

J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Apr;37(Suppl 1):50-56. doi: 10.1007/s11606-021-06993-1. Epub 2022 Mar 29.

Authors

Deborah J Bowen¹, Nicole Ackermann², Vetta Saunders Thompson³, Andrea Nederveld⁴, Melody Goodman⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bioethics and Humanities, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. dbowen@uw.edu.
² Division of Public Health Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
³ Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
⁴ Department of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
⁵ Department of Biostatistics, New York University School of Global Public Health, New York, NY, USA.

Abstract

Introduction: Engagement of relevant stakeholders' ideas, opinions, and concerns is critical to the success of modern research projects. We have developed a tool to measure stakeholder engagement, called the Research Engagement Survey Tool (REST). The purpose of this paper is to present the implementation and uptake of the stakeholder engagement measure REST among research teams, including the assessment of barriers and facilitating factors for use of the new research engagement measure in practice.

Methods: In this implementation study, project team members participated in baseline and follow-up web-based surveys. Web-based interviews were conducted with a subset of project teams that implemented the REST. On the baseline survey, project teams were asked to provide details about up to three ongoing or recently completed projects, were asked if they agreed with compensation for REST completion, and were asked if they would like to send the survey to stakeholders or would prefer our project team to email their project stakeholders. Follow-up surveys contained questions on reactions to implementing REST and results of REST.

Results: Project team members/researchers who completed the baseline survey (n=86) were mostly female (79%) and Non-Hispanic/Latino(a) White (76%). Those who implemented REST were also mostly female (86%) and Non-Hispanic/Latino(a) White (71%), with an average of 11 years in academic research. About 98% of all participants completing the baseline survey had the capacity to survey partners, while 100% of all teams who implemented REST did. A small portion of respondents indicated the time commitment of REST would be a barrier (29% of baseline survey respondents, 10% of those who implemented REST) and indicated workload would be a barrier (31% of baseline survey respondents, 14% of those who implemented REST).

Discussion: The data presented here indicate that REST implementation is feasible in a volunteer group of ongoing research projects.

Keywords: implementation science; participant engagement; research engagement; stakeholder-engaged research; survey implementation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Research Personnel*
Stakeholder Participation*
Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

ME-1511-33027/PCORI/Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute/United States