[Anne]

I am wondering about research teams’  experiences with engaging media as key stakeholder?

I know that we broach this topic of media communications as part of Lesson 5, but it also applies here—  I noticed that local or national media (i.e. journalists) were not frequently listed in the Blueprint stakeholder section for the Lesson 4 work assignment.  Do you think it’s important to build and nurture these relationships?

 

 

[Anne]

Also, as a additional note, I highly recommend the FHI Communications Handbook for Clinical Trials as a practical resource.

It outlines the components of communication and issues management planning before, during, and after a clinical trial –but also drills down on how to build relationships with key members of the media and how to incorporate online media in your overall communications strategy!

The electronic version of this document is easily accessible under the Resources button in Lesson 5.

[Anne]

If anyone is staying over the weekend, I can lead you up an exciting hike on table mountain on Saturday morning. But I am not quite sure if that tempts anyone but me, actually? 🙂

[Anne]

Great points about the importance of media monitoring, Rona!

Knowing which media outlets will help you address your communication objectives is critical to success!

And at site level, you also need to know how people might want to receive information and news, so reviewing your formative research can also inform your media strategy.

[Anne]

Thanks, Pongpun. Yes, although formative research is typically done as an initial activity, it can be useful to do this in an ongoing way to better determine the dynamics and interests of a community.

Formative research can also be a broader and more comprehensive effort to gain familiarly with a local community. Whereas some sites may conduct formal research to better understand the local norms, priorities and culture, other sites may execute an informal scan of their environment. Regardless of the approach, conducting formative research with stakeholder input can help research teams obtain critical feedback about the trial and learn about stakeholders expectations!

 

 

[Anne]

Thanks, Jessica! I think these are such critical points and are really the crux of the guidelines!

In sum, the take home message is that the establishment of a CAB may not translate into the best practice in every setting. Of course, they may be very helpful as an advisory mechanism but not completely sufficient for gaining all of your relevant community stakeholder input.

As Jessica points out, stakeholder mapping should be much broader and, when possible, should be optimally done with the input of community stakeholders. This can even lay the foundation for longer-term, sustained engagement!

[Anne]

And I am back like a pesky mosquito….

I notice in many of the discussion posts and work assignments, there is a lot of emphasis on CABs as the primary advisory mechanism.

Besides engaging a site-specific CAB, how do you get stakeholders to the table– and not just those who represent your target population? Do you have different options to ensure involvement of stakeholders at multiple levels?

[Anne]

Hi John and others:

I liked your responses! I have a couple of questions!

What are the key barriers to creating longer-term relationships, besides time and resources? Do you discuss specific ways to sustain engagement with your CABs?

 

 

 

[Anne]

Pat and others:

I would love to see some visual examples of stakeholder maps. Would anyone be willing to share with the group? We are currently working on how to   most efficiently share resources and documents on the LMS, but please send me some examples if you have them!

[Anne]

I have been reading learners’ Lesson 4 assignments, and I want to throw out a point for debate— in most trials, the major constraint will be availability of resources, both human and financial.

For this reason, a research team will need to consider how best to manage its engagement activities for maximum efficiency and effectiveness.

How do you decide which stakeholders are most important, given these constraints?

[Anne]

Regarding the second question, I think that the commitment to sustaining long-term relationships comes mainly from two fundamental guiding principles: transparency of communication and respect, which then build trust over time. As in any relationship, attention must be given to renewing the relationship and sustaining the commitment of the partners by  two-way feedback, evaluating progress and celebrating success.

Then, over time, you get the Big C–Commitment –– the extent to which each party believes and feels that the relationship is worth spending energy to maintain and promote.

[Anne]

Mathias and Cathy,

When you talk about bringing stakeholders together as a network or involving some stakeholders and not others, what advisory mechanisms do you routinely use?

 

 

[Anne]

And, as an added note of  enthusiasm, I am looking very forward to finally connecting names with real faces!

In addition to interesting conference events, I am happy to circulate recommendations about restaurants and points of interest in Cape Town 🙂

[Anne]

Hi Mathias,

I would like to hear more about engaging stakeholders in mapping- we also cover this in Lesson 4, as a means for stakeholder identification. I also like your statement : Doing formative research is one way of recognizing stakeholders competency and integrating it with the trial.

I agree and I think engaging stakeholders in formative research can also help a research team determine their own strengths and weaknesses and reflect on the different skill sets they might need to conduct the research.

And as you can see with the Blueprint exercises, researchers can engage stakeholders to identify key questions, issues, precedents that may affect the trial or how it is perceived by the community– and of course, develop strategies for how to address these.

[Anne]

Jau and others:

To what extent have you used key community leaders or representatives in the design and conduct of initial formative research activities?  Or, based on what you have learned in the training, would you consider doing more of this in the future, in order to incorporate local expertise and input– like with focus groups, interviews, or surveys, for example?

[Author]

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