Expert consensus-building for developing guidelines: lessons learned from a dengue economics workshop.
A workshop with 20 experts of diverse backgrounds from five countries in the Americas was convened for two-and-a-half days in March 2012 to discuss and develop a standardized methodology for assessing the economic cost of dengue. This article discusses a number of factors that contributed to the workshop's success, including: engaging the experts at various stages of the process; convening a multidisciplinary group to reduce expert bias and provide a more comprehensive and integrated approach; facilitating guided small- and large-group discussions; developing effective cross-cultural collectivism, trust, communication, and empathy across the expert panel; establishing clear lines of responsibilities within each group of experts; breaking down the complex issues into smaller and simpler ideas; providing ample background materials in multiple languages prior to the workshop. Challenges and areas for improvement are also covered.
Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
Dagna
D
Constenla
Noah
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Lefcourt
Cristina
C
Garcia
D017691:Caribbean Region; D003142:Communication; D032921:Consensus; D003245:Consensus Statements as Topic; D003469:Culture; D003715:Dengue / Q000191:economics*; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D007391:International Cooperation; D007802:Language; D007843:Latin America; D008370:Manuals as Topic; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012941:Social Responsibility