title: The Language of Engagement: "Aha!" Moments from Engaging Patients and Community Partners in Two Pilot Projects of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
abstract: Compared with people living in the community, researchers often have different frameworks or paradigms for thinking about health and wellness. These differing frameworks are often accompanied by differences in terminology or language. The purpose of this commentary is to describe some of our "Aha!" moments from conducting two pilot studies funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Over time, we came to understand how our language and word choices may have been acting as a wedge between ourselves and our community research partners. We learned that fruitful collaborative work must attend to the creation of a common language, which we refer to as the language of engagement. Such patient-centered language can effectively build a bridge between researchers and community partners. We encourage other researchers to think critically about their cultural competency, to be mindful of the social power dynamics between patient and physician, to reflect on how their understanding might differ from those of their patient partners, and to find ways to use a common language that engages patients and other community partners.
authors.affiliation: Senior Scientist at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation's Research Institute and a Consulting Professor at Stanford School of Medicine Department of Health Research and Policy in CA. tai-sealem@pamfri.org.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tai-Seale
authors.affiliation: Associate Dean for Population Based Research and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, Riverside. greer.sullivan@ucr.edu.
authors.forename: Greer
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.affiliation: Medical Anthropologist and Assistant Professor in Residence at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine. ann.cheney@ucr.edu.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cheney
authors.affiliation: Health Economist, a Research Fellow at the Sheps Center for Health Services Research, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. kathleen_thomas@unc.edu.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Fellow in the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's Patient Care Program and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a Consulting Investigator for the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute in CA. froschd@pamfri.org.
authors.forename: Dominick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Frosch
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D054521:Cultural Competency; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D010865:Pilot Projects