Improvement of comprehensibility through repeated structured participant feedback

Active participant (usually patients) and public involvement (PPI) is a strategy for integrating the perspective of those directly affected into the content, objectives and methods of research projects. PPI thus has potential to support the implementation of research results and thus increase the impact of research.

In general, less than 50% of research results are implemented in public health ("knowledge gap"); however, without implementation, clinical research is rarely meaningful.

So far, the results of our prospective multicentre cohort study on HCW have been disseminated through traditional channels such as newsletters and publications, but the participants themselves have not been actively involved. A better understanding of the study results, combined with a practical recommendation tailored to the participants and the institutions involved, could allow that health professionals and their institutions benefit more directly from the results.

In a longitudinal cohort study of HCW, systematic integration of communication strategies optimised by PPI enables timely, but also more setting-specific translation of research findings into public health. Both are major challenges in a rapidly evolving situation such as the current pandemic. Thus, a continuous involvement of the study participants in the research processes is implemented as well as the co-creation of recommendations based on the study results by the participating institutions.

Improve comprehensibility and implementation of study results through repeated structured participant feedback and co-creation of implementation strategies.