Healthcare research traditionally includes only scientists and other research professionals. At PCORI, our projects involve nontraditional stakeholders in selecting topics, designing and conducting research, and disseminating results. We believe engaging stakeholders with firsthand experience of conditions can produce more patient-centered, useful, and trustworthy research, ultimately leading to greater use of research results by patients and the broader healthcare community.
The Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award program, named in honor of the first chair of PCORI’s Board of Governors, aims to include patients, caregivers, clinicians, and other healthcare stakeholders in the research process. Our goal is to support projects that build communities prepared to participate in patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER), as well as to serve as channels for disseminating study results. Building communities through engagement projects is central to our mission to fund useful CER that will help patients and those who care for them make better-informed healthcare decisions.
The Engagement Award program supports PCORI’s engagement imperative, which is defined in our Strategic Plan. The program provides a platform to increase engagement in research—that is, the meaningful involvement of patients, caregivers, clinicians, and other healthcare stakeholders throughout the research process. Of note: Engagement Awards do not fund research studies.