SAGES IN EVERY SETTING: EVALUATING PATIENT ENGAGEMENT BUREAUS IN LONG TERM CARE

摘要

Providing innovative, purposeful opportunities for older adults to continue to engage with the world is imperative, particularly as we live longer lives. Sages in Every Setting is a PCORI funded project that aims to expand and diversify a pool of researchers, providers, and Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) recipients who have the knowledge, skills, and opportunity to collaborate with each other in research. This happens through the development of research advisory bureaus, in nursing homes and other LTSS settings that engage patients and promote their values and preferences for research. To evaluate the development of multiple Bureaus across diverse settings we are using a flexible approach, based on concepts from developmental evaluation. This allows for real time documentation of processes, adaptations and innovations; feedback regarding challenges and successful strategies; and identification of emerging outcomes. A suite of evaluation tools for monitoring process and outcomes can be adapted for use across diverse bureaus. Regular debriefings capture: a) commonalities and variations in stakeholders, processes and outcomes across sites; b) how bureaus use project materials and evaluation tools; c) successes, innovations, and unanticipated outcomes, and d) learning for purposes of quality improvement. We describe successes and challenges of using a flexible evaluation approach, and identify broader lessons regarding how to evaluate emerging, context-specific adaptations of a previously implemented engagement process or model.