Community of trauma care partnering with stakeholders to improve injury outcomes: focus group analysis.

Introduction: Engaging trauma survivors/caregivers results in research findings that are more relevant to patients' needs and priorities. Although their perspectives increase research significance, there is a lack of understanding about how best to incorporate their insights. We aimed to capture stakeholder perspectives to ensure research is meaningful, respectful, and relevant to the injured patient and their caregivers.
Methods: A multiphase, inductive exploratory qualitative study was performed, the first phase of which is described here. Virtual focus groups to elicit stakeholder perspectives and preferences were conducted across 19 trauma centers in the USA during 2022. Discussion topics were chosen to identify patients' motivation to join research studies, preferences regarding consent, suggestions for increasing diversity and access, and feelings regarding outcomes, efficacy, and exception from informed consent. The focus groups were audio recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed to identify the range of perspectives expressed and any common themes that emerged.
Results: Ten 90-minute focus groups included patients/caregiver (n=21/1) and researchers (n=14). Data analysis identified common themes emerging across groups. The importance of trust and preexisting relationships with the clinical care team were the most common themes across all groups.
Conclusion: Our findings reveal common themes in preferences, motivations, and best practices to increase patient/caregiver participation in trauma research. The project's next phases are distribution of a vignette-based survey to establish broad stakeholder consensus; education and dissemination activities to share strategies that increase research engagement and relevance for patients; and the formation of a panel of patients to support future research endeavors.
Level of Evidence: Level IV.
Competing Interests: Competing interests: AN: Inova Fairfax Hospital (Employee)—Received grant funding -from PCORI-American Trauma Society (Board member)—Received grant funding from PCORI. KJ: American Trauma Society (Employee)—Received grant funding from PCORI. PB: Coalition for National Trauma Research (Employee)—Received grant funding from PCORI. MAP: Coalition for National Trauma Research (Employee)—Received grant funding from PCORI. RD: Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (Board member). RK: NIH—Payment to institution-DOD—Payment to institution-Air Force—Payment to institution—Royalties for being Associate Editor Trauma textbook-Teaching ATLS—Payment-Honorarium for speaking at Detroit Trauma Symposium—Payment-Service on NIH and DOD grant review panels—Payment-EAST for giving Scott Frame Memorial Lecture—Payment-Cellular Therapeutics in Trauma and Critical Care—Payment-AAST strategic retreat—Payment-WTA-CNTR-Deputy editor J Trauma Acute Care Surgery-Associate editor Trauma Surgery Acute Care Open-Receipt of blood product used in pre-clinical study ERH: PCORI-AHRQ-NIH/NHLBI-CNTR (Board member)-NBCA (Board member)-Editor in Chief, TSACO—Paid DMS: PCORI—Grant-NIH—Grant, Site PI-Air Force—Grant-CNTR/DOD—Grant-NHTSA—Grant-CSL Behring, LLC—Participation in DSMB-Payment for honoraria—Austin Trauma and Critical Care Conference, University of Cincinnati, University of Arizona, University of Texas Southwest/Parkland-Meeting travel—ACS/ASA Health Policy Scholarship, ACS Clinical Congress, EAST Strategic/Tactical Retreat-Patent—Method and Apparatus or Monitoring Collection of Physiological Patient Data-Leadership roles—Past Present EAST, board member EAST, Examiner ABS, Program Committee member/Algorithm Chair WTA, Vice Chair Trauma, Burns, SCC ABS, Geriatric Content Lead ACS ATLS.
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