How should the proposal address patient and stakeholder engagement?
PCORI recognizes many different forms of patient and stakeholder engagement. The Research Strategy must include an Engagement Plan that uses PCORI's Engagement Rubric as a guide. See the Application Guidelines for resources including the rubric and PCORI's Methodology Standards associated with patient-centeredness. The application should also include engagement milestones. For example, these can include the recruitment of all patient/stakeholder research partners, results of annual surveys of patient/stakeholder partners, or meeting minutes of patient/stakeholder advisory councils. For questions regarding patient and stakeholder engagement, please email engagement@pcori.org.
Preparing our application requires a high level of stakeholder engagement, but the commitment required is difficult for many participants because we cannot pay for their time. Can these economic realities of working in an area of health disparity be factored into the budget and review criteria?
Yes. If a contract is awarded, the recipient may incur research project expenditures up to three months before the effective date, but in no event earlier than the date of approval by PCORI's Board of Governors. All such expenditures must be allowable and approved costs, as reflected in the budget. The recipient is responsible for the initial financing of these expenditures and will be paid once the contract is fully executed. If the contract is not executed, PCORI will not be responsible for any expenditure. PCORI reserves the right to deny any expenditure incurred before the execution of the contract that is inconsistent with the approved budget.
PCORI understands there are many challenges associated with engaging patients and stakeholders, particularly those who have low socioeconomic status. We encourage applicants to find creative ways to overcome these barriers and make meaningful and inclusive connections with these stakeholders without placing an undue burden on them. We suggest utilizing virtual means of communicating, using various technologies that can facilitate meaningful one-on-one conversations. If you are still unsure about how best to incorporate this type of engagement into your application, PCORI has posted on our website the PCORI Engagement Rubric and case studies of previous applications that include promising practices for engaging patients and stakeholders. Please review sample Engagement Plans here. For activities occurring after contract execution, we encourage you to provide appropriate compensation for your patient and stakeholder partners and to reflect it in your proposed budget.