Article type
Abstract
Background: Guidelines shape clinical, public health, and health system decision-making. Trustworthy guidelines are systematically developed documents that include actionable statements based on evidence and a formal, structured, and transparent decision process. The Guidelines International Network (GIN)-McMaster Guideline Development Checklist (GDC) is a standard tool for considering 18 topics of guideline development. One of the key aspects of guideline development is engaging with “interest holders,” or people whose interests should be considered in the context of health research. However, there is limited evidence-based guidance on whom to engage and when and how to engage them. The international MuSE Consortium has developed an extension for engaging with various “interest holders.”
Objectives: The objective of this project is to develop guidance for engaging with interest holders throughout all stages of health care guideline development.
Methods: Our project team included co-leads representing each of our identified interest holder groups. We conducted a series of reviews assessing engagement in guidelines, including methods of engagement, barriers and facilitators, impacts, and managing conflicts of interest. Using the results of the reviews, we conducted an international survey and key informant interviews to develop draft guidance that was finalized through consensus with the MuSE team.
Results: We identified 10 groups to engage, including patients and caregivers, health care providers, payers of research, purchasers of health services, program managers, policymakers, principal investigators and researchers, publishers and peer review editors, product makers, and the public.
The GIN-McMaster GDC Checklist Extension for Engagement provides guidance for engaging with each of our 10 identified groups throughout all 18 topics of guideline development. It describes whether each interest holder group should be engaged for each topic of guideline development and whether they should provide advice or feedback or participate in decision-making.
Conclusions: This guidance will assist guideline developers with considering which groups to engage with when developing health recommendations, at which stages of development, and how they should be engaged. The aim of this guidance is to increase the relevance and uptake of guidelines and their recommendations to all those who are affected by them.
Objectives: The objective of this project is to develop guidance for engaging with interest holders throughout all stages of health care guideline development.
Methods: Our project team included co-leads representing each of our identified interest holder groups. We conducted a series of reviews assessing engagement in guidelines, including methods of engagement, barriers and facilitators, impacts, and managing conflicts of interest. Using the results of the reviews, we conducted an international survey and key informant interviews to develop draft guidance that was finalized through consensus with the MuSE team.
Results: We identified 10 groups to engage, including patients and caregivers, health care providers, payers of research, purchasers of health services, program managers, policymakers, principal investigators and researchers, publishers and peer review editors, product makers, and the public.
The GIN-McMaster GDC Checklist Extension for Engagement provides guidance for engaging with each of our 10 identified groups throughout all 18 topics of guideline development. It describes whether each interest holder group should be engaged for each topic of guideline development and whether they should provide advice or feedback or participate in decision-making.
Conclusions: This guidance will assist guideline developers with considering which groups to engage with when developing health recommendations, at which stages of development, and how they should be engaged. The aim of this guidance is to increase the relevance and uptake of guidelines and their recommendations to all those who are affected by them.