The costs of partner engagement in research: Opportunities for pragmatic research, implementation science, and the science of engagement.

Abstract

There is growing emphasis on the importance of active partner engagement in research and the design, planning, and implementation of new programs. Indeed, the science of engagement is gaining is receiving more attention from researchers, being formally included in research studies more often, and increasingly being required by funders. Financial costs and economic implications are well-known drivers of successful adoption, implementation, and sustainment of evidence-based programs; however, partner engagement costs are often excluded from economic evaluations even when elements of engagement may be relevant to sustainment and replication. Resource constraints in both research and practice highlight the need to better understand engagement costs to ensure that scarce resources are put towards the richest engagement activities. As part of the Rapid and Rigorous Patient-Centered Program (R2P2) in Colorado, we designed an approach to systematically document and analyze partner engagement costs across four prototype projects. We describe this approach, summarize needed adaptations, share an interactive data collection template, synthesize the relevant engagement costs during implementation, replication, and sustainment, and discuss lessons learned. Our experiences in R2P2 in costing initial engagement activities across four diverse projects offer direction for future research and practice that balances high-quality partner engagement with efficiency in addressing resource constraints facing researchers and practitioners.