LAUSR

Spurred by funding agency initiatives and requirements, a need for full-spectrum translational research, and the significant value of community and patient perspectives held by researchers, patient engagement is a growing reality in the research world. The enthusiasm is exciting to those of us who have been engaging patients for many years. Patient engagement presents potential for new research ideas and approaches, research that is more meaningful to patients and community members, and quicker and more effective translation of discovery into everyday life and practice (1–3). With this new-found excitement comes some measure of uncertainty. The form and depth of engagement, methods and terminology varies widely between funders, community organizations, health and disease advocacy groups, and academic researchers. Questions bubble up in our team meetings, at conferences and in classrooms. Now is a vital time to ask these important questions, to be vulnerable to share experiences and to contribute to the emerging science of patient and community engagement in research. As faculty in the University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine, our research has not been just impacted by patient engagement—it would not exist without patient engagement. For more than 15 years, the High Plains Research Network Community Advisory Council and, more recently, the Colorado Clinical and Translational Science Institute Community Engagement Program and many other groups have engaged patients and community members from all walks of life throughout rural and urban Colorado (4–6). We have experienced a shift from those early questions of the start-up effort to confronting the complex questions that arise when genuinely engaging patients and community members in research. Engagement has long been a topic of conversation and study for the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG). Spurred on by NAPCRG researchers, this special issue of Family Practice ‘Quandaries in Patient and Community Engagement in Research’ explores questions confronted by researchers every day. The selected articles will provide some answers but will also pose current and new quandaries. We are delighted to present this series of articles that explore patient engagement through commentaries that encourage reflection and a call to action, questions about methods of engagement and examples of the successes and challenges experienced by specific projects.