[Marie]

Relationships between stakeholders should firstly not be seen as competition so I wouldn’t call it ” …….involving one stakeholder versus another. ” Co-operation is what we are aiming to achieve throughout the whole research process. Alison, Bernice, Sherri, and the others mentioned very interesting points about their experiences and as Anthonia mentioned, trial participants are different. Those who have been on trials for a long time may not have the same experiences as recent trial participants. In fact the latter would have benefitted greatly from the experiences of the former because that is where we would have learnt or encountered our first teething problems. So to answer the question of what methods or approaches and processes we used, I would say one on one forums involving as many staheholders as possible, giving them the opportunity not just to listen but to facilitate the discussions as well. Panel discussions have always worked well at our sight and we always include adolescent representatives not just from our CAB but other youth organisations within the community. I am very careful though about the use of social media and the content of the discussion on that platform. As far as that is concerned, I make the choice of the person or the group concerned and also ensuring that it is within the framework of the site SOP, so as not to bring the research unit into disrepute as far as ethics are concerned.