By Missy Destrampe
A 3-day gathering set the stage for engaging older adults in the design and implementation of research.
The LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston hosted the Sages’ Symposium 2020 this fall. The virtual conference of researchers and older adults was funded through a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award (EAIN-00060).
If you missed some or all of the symposium, you can view the sessions on demand and visit the symposium’s Resource Library to review all of the materials shared during the event.
SYMPOSIUM PURPOSE
The Sages’ Symposium was designed to put “engaged research” on the map.
Engaged research is the process of including older adults and aging stakeholders in the actual design and implementation of research. This means moving beyond including older adults as research subjects to also engaging them in prioritizing research topics and research methods. PCORI wants to see more of this stakeholder engagement in patient-centered and comparative effectiveness research, both with the older adult population and among hard-to-reach populations across the board.
The virtual symposium was attended by more than 90 researchers and older adults from across the country and abroad. The 3-day virtual event included keynotes, stakeholder panels, and active discussions.
DAY 1
PCORI Program Officer Kate Boyd provided an overview of the institute and reviewed the importance of engagement from a funder’s perspective. A Student Spotlight, presented by Sophia Webber, a research coordinator and social media manager at Collective Insight, explored the availability and application of engagement frameworks. It was an amazing opportunity to see a student shine!
Dr. Thomas Concannon, director of stakeholder and community engagement at the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute, offered the symposium keynote, “The Engagement Continuum—Beyond One Size Fits All.” Attendees witnessed a raw look at engagement expectations and feasible solutions.
Day 1 wrapped up with a live question-and-answer session with all of the day’s presenters. Audience members were able to ask important questions about the benefits and practicality of engaged research with older adults.
DAY 2
Day 2 offered laser-focused attention on strategies that make engagement work. A panel of older adult stakeholders and researchers discussed ways older adults have been engaged in research, and the benefits and challenges they have faced. Group members discussed their solutions to challenges associated with engagement and the unique experiences that led them to these solutions.
Dr. Tam Perry from the Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research and JoAnn Smith, community advisory board and staff member at the Healthier Black Elders Center, explored the challenges and opportunities of engaging commonly underserved and underrepresented communities. Perry and Smith shared their own experiences implementing a community engagement research model with African American older adults in Detroit and Flint, MI. Throughout the day, attendees posted questions that all presenters answered during a live question-and-answer session. Highlights from that session included a discussion of the importance of building trust and relationships when trying to make meaningful engagement work.
DAY 3
Day 1 and 2 presentations and discussions led nicely into Day 3, which included a multi-stakeholder panel that walked the audience through engagement tools and resources. A collaborative brainstorming session reviewed what symposium participants had learned and where to go from here. The end result was a “road map” for expanding engaged research partnerships between researchers and older adults.
SPECIAL THANKS
Special thanks to our Steering Committee of researchers and older adults from CJE SeniorLife, Lieberman Center for Health and Rehabilitation, LeadingAge, and the Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania. This project was led by Erin McGaffigan, an LTSS Center fellow and founder of Collective Insight, and LTSS Center Co-Director Marc Cohen.
Missy Destrampe is program manager at Collective Insight.