PLAIN ENGLISH SUMMARY Why did we do this study? It can be difficult for scientists to communicate their research findings to the public. This is partly due to the complexity of translating scientific language into words that the public understand. Further, it may be hard for the public to find out about and locate information about research studies. We aimed to adapt some scientific articles about the links between dementia and stroke into lay summaries to be displayed online for the general public. How did we do it? We collaborated with five people from a volunteer organisation, VOICENorth. They took part in two group discussions about studies reporting on the link between dementia and stroke, and selected four studies to translate into lay summaries and display on a website. We discussed the layout and language of the summaries and made adaptations to make them more understandable to the general public. What did we find? We were able to work with members of the public to translate research findings into lay summaries suitable for a general audience. We made changes to language and layout including the use of 'question and answer' style layouts, the addition of a reference list of scientific terms, and removing certain words. What does this mean? Working with members of the public is a realistic way to create resources that improve the accessibility of research findings to the wider public. ABSTRACT Background Scientific research is often poorly understood by the general public and difficult for them to access. This presents a major barrier to disseminating and translating research findings. Stroke and dementia are both major public health issues, and research has shown lifestyle measures help to prevent them. This project aimed to select a series of studies from the Newcastle Cognitive Function after Stroke cohort (COGFAST) and create lay summaries comprehensible and accessible to the public. Methods We used a focus group format to collaborate with five members of the public to review COGFAST studies, prioritise those of most interest to the wider public, and modify the language and layout of the selected lay summaries. Focus groups were audio-taped and the team used the data to make iterative amendments, as suggested by members of the public, to the summaries and to a research website. We calculated the Flesch reading ease and Flesch-Kincaid grade level for each summary before and after the changes were made. Results In total, we worked with five members of the public in two focus groups to examine draft lay summaries, created by researchers, relating to eight COGFAST studies. Members of the public prioritised four COGFAST lay summaries according to the importance of the topic to the general public. We made a series of revisions to the summaries including the use of 'question and answer' style layouts, the addition of a glossary, and the exclusion of scientific jargon. Group discussion highlighted that lay summaries should be engaging, concise and comprehensible. We incorporated suggestions from members of the public into the design of a study website to display the summaries. The application of existing quantitative tools to estimate readability resulted in an apparently paradoxical increase in complexity of the lay summaries following the changes made. Conclusion This study supports previous literature demonstrating challenges in creating generic guidelines for researchers to create lay summaries. Existing quantitative metrics to assess readability may be inappropriate for assessing scientific lay summaries. We have shown it is feasible and successful to involve members of the public to create lay summaries to communicate the findings of complex scientific research. Trial registration Not applicable to the lay summary project.

中文翻译：

---

“所有关于神经元的东西都是必要的吗？” 制定非专业摘要以传播纽卡斯尔卒中后认知功能 (COGFAST) 研究的结果。

简单的英文摘要 我们为什么要进行这项研究？科学家可能很难将他们的研究成果传达给公众。这部分是由于将科学语言翻译成公众理解的词语的复杂性。此外，公众可能难以了解和定位有关研究的信息。我们的目标是将一些关于痴呆症和中风之间联系的科学文章改编成非专业的摘要，以便在网上向公众展示。我们是怎么做的？我们与来自志愿者组织 VOICENorth 的五个人合作。他们参加了关于报告痴呆和中风之间联系的研究的两个小组讨论，并选择了四项研究来翻译成非专业的摘要并在网站上展示。我们讨论了摘要的布局和语言，并进行了修改以使它们更容易被公众理解。我们发现了什么？我们能够与公众合作，将研究结果转化为适合普通受众的非专业摘要。我们对语言和布局进行了更改，包括使用“问答”式布局、添加科学术​​语参考列表以及删除某些单词。这是什么意思？与公众合作是一种创造资源的现实方式，以提高研究成果对更广泛公众的可及性。抽象背景 科学研究往往不为大众所知，也难以获得。这对传播和翻译研究成果构成了主要障碍。中风和痴呆都是主要的公共卫生问题，研究表明生活方式措施有助于预防它们。该项目旨在从纽卡斯尔卒中后认知功能队列 (COGFAST) 中选择一系列研究，并创建可供公众理解和访问的非专业摘要。方法 我们采用焦点小组形式与五名公众合作，审查 COGFAST 研究，优先考虑更广泛公众最感兴趣的研究，并修改所选非专业摘要的语言和布局。焦点小组被录音，团队根据公众的建议使用这些数据对摘要和研究网站进行迭代修改。我们计算了更改前后每个摘要的 Flesch 阅读难度和 Flesch-Kincaid 等级水平。结果总的来说，我们在两个焦点小组中与五名公众合作，审查研究人员创建的与八项 COGFAST 研究相关的非专业摘要草稿。根据该主题对公众的重要性，公众优先考虑了四个 COGFAST 总结。我们对摘要进行了一系列修改，包括使用“问答”式布局、添加词汇表以及排除科学术语。小组讨论强调，非专业摘要应该引人入胜、简明扼要、易于理解。我们将公众的建议纳入研究网站的设计以显示摘要。应用现有的定量工具来估计可读性导致在进行更改后，非专业摘要的复杂性明显增加。结论 本研究支持以前的文献证明在为研究人员创建通用指南以创建非专业摘要方面存在挑战。评估可读性的现有定量指标可能不适用于评估科学外行摘要。我们已经证明，让公众参与创建非专业摘要以交流复杂科学研究的结果是可行和成功的。试用注册 不适用于外行摘要项目。我们已经证明，让公众参与创建非专业摘要以交流复杂科学研究的结果是可行和成功的。试用注册 不适用于外行摘要项目。我们已经证明，让公众参与创建非专业摘要以交流复杂科学研究的结果是可行和成功的。试用注册 不适用于外行摘要项目。