Protocol for the development of guidance for collaborator and partner engagement in health care evidence syntheses

Peter Tugwell; Vivian Welch; Olivia Magwood; Alex Todhunter-Brown; Elie A Akl; Thomas W Concannon; Joanne Khabsa; Richard Morley; Holger Schunemann; Lyubov Lytvyn; Arnav Agarwal; Alba Antequera; Marc T Avey; Pauline Campbell; Christine Chang; Stephanie Chang; Leonila Dans; Omar Dewidar; Davina Ghersi; Ian D Graham; Glen Hazlewood; Jennifer Hilgart; Tanya Horsley; Denny John; Janet Jull; Lara J Maxwell; Chris McCutcheon; Zachary Munn; Francesco Nonino; Jordi Pardo Pardo; Roses Parker; Kevin Pottie; Gabriel Rada; Alison Riddle; Anneliese Synnot; Elizabeth Tanjong Ghogomu; Eve Tomlinson; Karine Toupin-April; Jennifer Petkovic

doi:10.1186/s13643-023-02279-1

Protocol for the development of guidance for collaborator and partner engagement in health care evidence syntheses

Syst Rev. 2023 Aug 2;12(1):134. doi: 10.1186/s13643-023-02279-1.

Authors

Peter Tugwell^#^{1

2

3

4}, Vivian Welch^#^{3

5}, Olivia Magwood^{5

6}, Alex Todhunter-Brown⁷, Elie A Akl^{8

9}, Thomas W Concannon¹⁰, Joanne Khabsa¹¹, Richard Morley¹², Holger Schunemann^{13

14

15

16}, Lyubov Lytvyn¹⁷, Arnav Agarwal^{9

18}, Alba Antequera¹⁹, Marc T Avey²⁰, Pauline Campbell⁷, Christine Chang²¹, Stephanie Chang²², Leonila Dans²³, Omar Dewidar⁵, Davina Ghersi^{24

25}, Ian D Graham^{3

26}, Glen Hazlewood²⁷, Jennifer Hilgart²⁸, Tanya Horsley^{3

29}, Denny John^{30

31}, Janet Jull³², Lara J Maxwell³³, Chris McCutcheon²⁶, Zachary Munn³⁴, Francesco Nonino³⁵, Jordi Pardo Pardo^{1

36}, Roses Parker³⁷, Kevin Pottie^{38

39}, Gabriel Rada^{40

41}, Alison Riddle^{5

33}, Anneliese Synnot^{42

43}, Elizabeth Tanjong Ghogomu^{1

5}, Eve Tomlinson⁴⁴, Karine Toupin-April^{45

46

47

48}, Jennifer Petkovic^{49

50}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
² Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa, Canada.
³ School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
⁴ WHO Collaborating Centre for Knowledge Translation and Health Technology Assessment in Health Equity, Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
⁵ Bruyere Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
⁶ Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
⁷ Nursing Midwifery and Allied Health Professions (NMAHP) Research Unit, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK.
⁸ Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
⁹ Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (HEI), McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
¹⁰ The RAND Corporation and Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
¹¹ Clinical Research Institute, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
¹² Cochrane, London, UK.
¹³ Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, Michael G DeGroote Cochrane Canada Centre, Cochrane Canada and McMaster GRADE Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
¹⁴ Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
¹⁵ Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Milan, Italy.
¹⁶ Cochrane Canada, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
¹⁷ McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
¹⁸ Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
¹⁹ International Health Department, ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
²⁰ Canadian Council On Animal Care, Ottawa, Canada.
²¹ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD, USA.
²² Annals of Internal Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
²³ Department of Clinical Epidemiology, University of the Philippines-Manila, Manila, Philippines.
²⁴ Research Translation, National Health and Medical Research Council, Canberra, Australia.
²⁵ Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
²⁶ Centre for Implementation Research, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
²⁷ Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
²⁸ Cochrane Central Executive Team, London, UK.
²⁹ Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.
³⁰ PharmaQuant, Kolkata, India.
³¹ Center for Public Health Research (CPHR), Kolkata, India.
³² School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
³³ Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
³⁴ Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, JBI, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
³⁵ Unit of Epidemiology and Statistics, IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
³⁶ Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa Methods Centre, Ottawa, Canada.
³⁷ Cochrane Pain Palliative and Supportive Care, Oxford University Hospitals Trust, Oxford, England.
³⁸ Departments of Family Medicine and Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
³⁹ Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
⁴⁰ Epistemonikos Foundation, Santiago, Chile.
⁴¹ UC Evidence Centre and Department of Internal Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
⁴² School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 4, 553 St Kilda Road, Melbourne Victoria, 3004, Australia.
⁴³ Centre for Health Communication and Participation, School of Public Health and Psychological Sciences, La Trobe University, Plenty Rd, Bundoora, VIC, 3086, Australia.
⁴⁴ Bristol Medical School, Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
⁴⁵ School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
⁴⁶ Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
⁴⁷ Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
⁴⁸ Institut du Savoir Montfort, Ottawa, Canada.
⁴⁹ Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. jennifer.petkovic@uottawa.ca.
⁵⁰ Bruyere Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada. jennifer.petkovic@uottawa.ca.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Involving collaborators and partners in research may increase relevance and uptake, while reducing health and social inequities. Collaborators and partners include people and groups interested in health research: health care providers, patients and caregivers, payers of health research, payers of health services, publishers, policymakers, researchers, product makers, program managers, and the public. Evidence syntheses inform decisions about health care services, treatments, and practice, which ultimately affect health outcomes. Our objectives are to: A. Identify, map, and synthesize qualitative and quantitative findings related to engagement in evidence syntheses B. Explore how engagement in evidence synthesis promotes health equity C. Develop equity-oriented guidance on methods for conducting, evaluating, and reporting engagement in evidence syntheses METHODS: Our diverse, international team will develop guidance for engagement with collaborators and partners throughout multiple sequential steps using an integrated knowledge translation approach: 1. Reviews. We will co-produce 1 scoping review, 3 systematic reviews and 1 evidence map focusing on (a) methods, (b) barriers and facilitators, (c) conflict of interest considerations, (d) impacts, and (e) equity considerations of engagement in evidence synthesis. 2. Methods study, interviews, and survey. We will contextualise the findings of step 1 by assessing a sample of evidence syntheses reporting on engagement with collaborators and partners and through conducting interviews with collaborators and partners who have been involved in producing evidence syntheses. We will use these findings to develop draft guidance checklists and will assess agreement with each item through an international survey. 3.

Consensus: The guidance checklists will be co-produced and finalised at a consensus meeting with collaborators and partners. 4.

Dissemination: We will develop a dissemination plan with our collaborators and partners and work collaboratively to improve adoption of our guidance by key organizations.

Conclusion: Our international team will develop guidance for collaborator and partner engagement in health care evidence syntheses. Incorporating partnership values and expectations may result in better uptake, potentially reducing health inequities.

Keywords: Coproduction; Engagement; Evidence synthesis; Stakeholder; Systematic reviews.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Delivery of Health Care*
Health Facilities*
Health Personnel
Humans

Grants and funding

CIHR/Canada