Patient engagement is a fast-evolving area of research. The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute grants have fueled a renewed interest in developing approaches that incorporate generalizable patient perspectives. Although most clinical researchers recognize the importance of addressing outcomes that matter to patients, the fact remains that most grant proposals are built on aims chosen by doctors and scientists. Patient-Centered Research into Outcomes Stroke Patients Prefer and Effectiveness Research (PROSPER) represents a departure from this longstanding paradigm in 2 important ways. First, the questions, concerns, and outcomes we plan to tackle have been generated by patients, for patients. Second, stroke survivors and stakeholders are part of the PROSPER team and regularly engage in an iterative process to ensure that patient-centered outcomes remain the primary focus for this study.
Developing the goals and hypotheses for the PROSPER study was an eye-opening experience that prompted reflection; …