Virtual Research Prioritization: Innovations for Research Agenda Development With Impacted Communities

Abstract

Involving communities in research prioritization is an important component of developing relevant research, policy, and healthcare questions. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to an increased need for research prioritization methods which align with public health protections. The Research Prioritization by Affected Communities (RPAC) protocol is a participatory method which directly involves historically excluded communities in developing and prioritizing research questions. We adapted the RPAC protocol for the virtual environment (RPAC-ve) to understand the research, healthcare delivery, and policy priorities of greatest importance to communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to pregnancy in the United States. RPAC-ve included the use of a web-based platform, sharable documents for listing and ranking research questions, and a scribe to capture a visual representation of RPAC-ve sessions. RPAC-ve is a flexible and effective priority setting method which can be used to engage high risk populations.