PLAIN ENGLISH SUMMARY Increasingly, funders and researchers want to partner with patients in health research, but it can be challenging for researchers to find patient partners. More than taking part in research as participants, patient partners help design, carry out and manage research projects. The goal of this study was to describe ways that patient partners have been recruited by researchers and patient engagement leads (individuals within organizations responsible for promoting and supporting patients as research partners). We talked with researchers and patient engagement leads in Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as a patient representative. We found three ways that could help researchers and patients find each other. One way is a case-by-case basis, where patients are often sought with experience of a health condition that is the focus of the research. The other ways involved directories where projects were posted and could be found by patients and researchers, or a third party matched patients with research projects. We found four recruitment strategies:Social marketingCommunity outreachHealth systemPartnering with other organizations (e.g., advocacy groups) There are many influences on finding, selecting and retaining patient partners: patient characteristics, the local setting, the opportunity, work climate, education and support. We hope study results will provide a useful starting point for research teams in recruiting their patient partners. ABSTRACT Background Patient engagement in clinical trials and other health research continues to gain momentum. While the benefits of patient engagement in research are emerging, relatively little is known about recruiting patients as research partners. The purpose of this study was to describe recruitment strategies and models of recruiting patients as partners in health research. Methods Qualitative descriptive study. Thirteen patient engagement leads and health researchers from Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as one patient representative from a national patient organization (7 female) completed semi-structured interviews. Results Recruitment infrastructures available to respondents varied, but could be categorized into three models including the traditional, third-party and directory models. Four categories of recruitment strategies were identified, representing multiple ways of recruiting patient partners: social marketing recruitment, community outreach recruitment, health system recruitment, and partnering recruitment. Conclusions Multiple recruitment strategies were identified for engaging patient partners in research, and some common factors influenced recruitment. Study findings contribute to the evidence base in patient engagement and provide guidance for research teams to help identify potential recruitment methods for their patient partners.

中文翻译：

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在健康研究中招募患者作为合作伙伴：定性描述性研究。

普通英语摘要越来越多的资助者和研究人员希望与患者进行健康研究合作，但是对于研究人员而言，寻找患者合作伙伴可能会面临挑战。耐心的合作伙伴不只是作为参与者参加研究，还可以帮助设计，实施和管理研究项目。这项研究的目的是描述研究人员和患者参与领导（组织内部负责促进和支持患者作为研究合作伙伴的个人）招募患者合作伙伴的方式。我们与加拿大和英国的研究人员和患者参与负责人以及患者代表进行了交谈。我们发现了三种可以帮助研究人员和患者相互发现的方法。一种方法是逐案处理，在这里，经常要寻求具有健康状况经验的患者，这是研究的重点。其他方式包括张贴项目的目录，患者和研究人员可以找到该目录，或者由第三方将患者与研究项目匹配。我们发现了四种招聘策略：社会营销社区宣传健康体系与其他组织（例如，倡导团体）的合作对寻找，选择和保留患者伙伴有很多影响：患者的特征，当地环境，机会，工作环境，教育和支持。我们希望研究结果将为研究团队招募患者合作伙伴提供有用的起点。背景技术患者参与临床试验和其他健康研究的势头不断增强。尽管患者参与研究的好处正在显现，但关于招募患者作为研究伙伴的知之甚少。这项研究的目的是描述在健康研究中招募患者作为合作伙伴的招募策略和模型。方法定性描述研究。来自加拿大和英国的13位患者参与领导和健康研究人员，以及来自国家患者组织的一位患者代表（7位女性）完成了半结构化访谈。结果受访者可以使用的招聘基础架构各不相同，但可以分为三种模型，包括传统模型，第三方模型和目录模型。确定了四种招募策略，代表了招募患者合作伙伴的多种方式：社交营销招募，社区外展招募，卫生系统招募和合作伙伴招募。结论确定了多种招募策略，以使患者伙伴参与研究，并且一些共同因素影响了招募。研究结果有助于患者参与的证据基础，并为研究团队提供指导，以帮助确定其患者伴侣的潜在招募方法。