Optimising Multi-stakeholder Practices in Patient Engagement: A Gap Analysis to Enable Focused Evolution of Patient Engagement in the Development and Lifecycle Management of Medicines

Patient organisations' views, motivations and experiences on patient involvement in cancer research: a pilot study in Portugal

OBJECTIVES

To characterise Portuguese cancer-related patient organisations and analyse their views, motivations and experiences on patient involvement in cancer research.

DESIGN

A multistakeholder group, comprising patient representatives and researchers, codesigned a questionnaire after a literature review, online sessions and collaborative mind maps. In May 2021, a survey was conducted among representatives of Portuguese cancer-related patient organisations, focusing on four dimensions: experience in cancer research; perception of its outcomes; motivations and expectations on patient involvement in research; and organisation characteristics.

PARTICIPANTS

Twenty-seven representatives from Portuguese cancer-related patient organisations responded to the questionnaire, corresponding to a 64% response rate.

RESULTS

Among the surveyed organisations, 26% have participated in clinical studies. Their involvement occurred in few stages of the research process and, mostly, with low levels of engagement. They showed 'great interest' in participating in most research steps, although this is not reflected in a high perception of influence over these same steps. More than half claimed to have contributed to the increase in patient recruitment and to a better understanding of informed consent by patients involved. Ensuring that research results are more aligned with the true needs of patients is the greatest motivation. Also, our results suggest that the organisation's number of employees and its integration into a European/International network play a relevant role in patient involvement in research.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides the first in-depth characterisation of Portuguese cancer-related patient organisations and their views, motivations and experiences on patient involvement in cancer research. Most importantly, this study revealed that most of these organisations show great interest in being involved in different R&D stages to ensure that research results are aligned with patients' needs. Their motivation should be turned into greater and more meaningful involvement in practice, so that the cancer community can benefit from the outcomes of truly patient-centred research.

A systematic review of models of patient engagement in the development and life cycle management of medicines

There is currently no universally agreed code of practice for patient engagement (PE), and existing guidelines do not fully cover the scope across medicine development and subsequent life cycle management. This review conceptualises the meaning and summarises the current models of PE. A systematic literature review was conducted and analysed by thematic synthesis. Eight themes were identified as components of how to achieve meaningful PE, and five were identified for where to engage with patients in drug development. This review provides summative guidance for stakeholders intending to introduce PE and establishes a starting point for the development of a universal code of practice.

Using Patient Perspectives to Inform Better Clinical Trial Design and Conduct: Current Trends and Future Directions

The approach to patient engagement (PE) in drug development has changed rapidly due to many factors, including the complexity of innovative drugs and the need to demonstrate outcomes of relevance to patients, the desire to show 'value add' of PE, and the pandemic-related changes to how clinical trials are run, e.g., decentralised studies. In parallel, there have been changes in technology-assisted ways of running clinical trials, capturing patient health outcomes and preferences, an increasing societal demand for diversity and inclusion, and efforts to improve clinical trial efficiency, transparency, and accountability. Organisations are beginning to monitor PE activities and outcomes more effectively to learn and inform future PE strategies. As a result, these factors are facilitating the incorporation of patients' lived experience, preferences and needs into the design and running of clinical trials more than ever before. In this paper, the authors reflect upon these last few years, the emerging trends and their drivers, and where we may expect PE in clinical research to progress in the near future.

Stakeholder engagement in eight comparative effectiveness trials in African Americans and Latinos with asthma

BACKGROUND

The effects of stakeholder engagement, particularly in comparative effectiveness trials, have not been widely reported. In 2014, eight comparative effectiveness studies targeting African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos with uncontrolled asthma were funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) as part of its Addressing Disparities Program. Awardees were required to meaningfully involve patients and other stakeholders. Using specific examples, we describe how these stakeholders substantially changed the research protocols and in other ways participated meaningfully as full partners in the development and conduct of the eight studies.

METHODS

Using the method content analysis of cases, we identified themes regarding the types of stakeholders, methods of engagement, input from the stakeholders, changes made to the research protocols and processes, and perceived benefits and challenges of the engagement process. We used summaries from meetings of the eight teams, results from an engagement survey, and the final research reports as our data source to obtain detailed information. The descriptive data were assessed by multiple reviewers using inductive and deductive qualitative methods and discussed in the context of engagement literature.

RESULTS

Stakeholders participated in the planning, conduct, and dissemination phases of all eight asthma studies. All the studies included clinicians and community representatives as stakeholders. Other stakeholders included patients with asthma, their caregivers, advocacy organizations, and health-system representatives. Engagement was primarily by participation in advisory boards, although six of the eight studies (75%) also utilized focus groups and one-on-one interviews. Difficulty finding a time and location to meet was the most reported challenge to engagement, noted by four of the eight teams (50%). Other reported challenges and barriers to engagement included recruitment of stakeholders, varying levels of enthusiasm among stakeholders, controlling power dynamics, and ensuring that stakeholder involvement was reflected and had true influence on the project.

CONCLUSION

Engagement-driven modifications led to specific changes in study design and conduct that were felt to have increased enrollment and the general level of trust and support of the targeted communities. The level of interaction described, between investigators and stakeholders in each study and between investigator-stakeholder groups, is-we believe-unprecedented and may provide useful guidance for other studies seeking to improve the effectiveness of community-driven research.