What motivates public collaborators to become and stay involved in health research?

Abstract Background People with lived experience of health and illness are increasingly being involved in research. Knowing what creates interest in becoming involved in health research may help identify appropriate ways of facilitating meaningful involvement. The study aimed to investigate why peop...

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Main Authors: Toril Beate Røssvoll, Kristin Liabo, Tove Aminda Hanssen, Jan H. Rosenvinge, Elisabeth Sundkvist, Gunn Pettersen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2024-02-01
Series:Research Involvement and Engagement
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-024-00555-5
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author Toril Beate Røssvoll
Kristin Liabo
Tove Aminda Hanssen
Jan H. Rosenvinge
Elisabeth Sundkvist
Gunn Pettersen
author_facet Toril Beate Røssvoll
Kristin Liabo
Tove Aminda Hanssen
Jan H. Rosenvinge
Elisabeth Sundkvist
Gunn Pettersen
author_sort Toril Beate Røssvoll
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background People with lived experience of health and illness are increasingly being involved in research. Knowing what creates interest in becoming involved in health research may help identify appropriate ways of facilitating meaningful involvement. The study aimed to investigate why people became public collaborators in health research and what helped sustain their commitment to staying involved. Methods Semistructured individual qualitative interviews were conducted with 11 Norwegian public collaborators recruited from patient organisations. To enhance the quality and relevance of this study, three public collaborators were involved in framing the study and in the data analysis. One of them is a coauthor of this paper. The interviews were analysed through reflexive thematic analysis, and two themes were generated. Results The first theme, ‘research as a vehicle to impact’ showed how interest in becoming involved in research was founded on the possibility of impacting healthcare through research. Other inspiring factors were how they appraised the relevance of the research, in addition to the public collaborators’ own sense of moral duty to advocate for research related to their own as well as others, illnesses or diseases. The second theme, ‘‘Acknowledgement and accessibility’, framed how the participants perceived appreciation of experiential knowledge as crucial for maintaining motivation in their role as public collaborators. Other promoters of sustained involvement presented were training for both public collaborators and researchers, adequate allowance as a means for visualising and valuing PPI, and accessible language. Conclusions This study contributes to the understanding of how to facilitate meaningful and sustainable PPI, which requires a safe space for collaboration and attention to accessibility. Facilitating meaningful involvement may, in turn, increase the potential impact and sustainability of PPI.
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spelling doaj.art-075b34baf4814b6ea35ee6ff05123b952024-03-05T20:41:05ZengBMCResearch Involvement and Engagement2056-75292024-02-011011810.1186/s40900-024-00555-5What motivates public collaborators to become and stay involved in health research?Toril Beate Røssvoll0Kristin Liabo1Tove Aminda Hanssen2Jan H. Rosenvinge3Elisabeth Sundkvist4Gunn Pettersen5Department of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of NorwayCollege of Medicine and Health, PenCLAHRC Patient and Public Involvement Team, University of Exeter Medical SchoolDepartment of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of NorwayDepartment of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of NorwayCentre for Shared Decision Making, University Hospital of North NorwayDepartment of Health and Care Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of NorwayAbstract Background People with lived experience of health and illness are increasingly being involved in research. Knowing what creates interest in becoming involved in health research may help identify appropriate ways of facilitating meaningful involvement. The study aimed to investigate why people became public collaborators in health research and what helped sustain their commitment to staying involved. Methods Semistructured individual qualitative interviews were conducted with 11 Norwegian public collaborators recruited from patient organisations. To enhance the quality and relevance of this study, three public collaborators were involved in framing the study and in the data analysis. One of them is a coauthor of this paper. The interviews were analysed through reflexive thematic analysis, and two themes were generated. Results The first theme, ‘research as a vehicle to impact’ showed how interest in becoming involved in research was founded on the possibility of impacting healthcare through research. Other inspiring factors were how they appraised the relevance of the research, in addition to the public collaborators’ own sense of moral duty to advocate for research related to their own as well as others, illnesses or diseases. The second theme, ‘‘Acknowledgement and accessibility’, framed how the participants perceived appreciation of experiential knowledge as crucial for maintaining motivation in their role as public collaborators. Other promoters of sustained involvement presented were training for both public collaborators and researchers, adequate allowance as a means for visualising and valuing PPI, and accessible language. Conclusions This study contributes to the understanding of how to facilitate meaningful and sustainable PPI, which requires a safe space for collaboration and attention to accessibility. Facilitating meaningful involvement may, in turn, increase the potential impact and sustainability of PPI.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-024-00555-5Patient and public involvementPublic collaboratorQualitative researchReflexive thematic analysisMaintaining motivation
spellingShingle Toril Beate Røssvoll
Kristin Liabo
Tove Aminda Hanssen
Jan H. Rosenvinge
Elisabeth Sundkvist
Gunn Pettersen
What motivates public collaborators to become and stay involved in health research?
Research Involvement and Engagement
Patient and public involvement
Public collaborator
Qualitative research
Reflexive thematic analysis
Maintaining motivation
title What motivates public collaborators to become and stay involved in health research?
title_full What motivates public collaborators to become and stay involved in health research?
title_fullStr What motivates public collaborators to become and stay involved in health research?
title_full_unstemmed What motivates public collaborators to become and stay involved in health research?
title_short What motivates public collaborators to become and stay involved in health research?
title_sort what motivates public collaborators to become and stay involved in health research
topic Patient and public involvement
Public collaborator
Qualitative research
Reflexive thematic analysis
Maintaining motivation
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-024-00555-5
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