Involving research participants in a pan-European research initiative: the EPAD participant panel experience

Table 1 Overview of local and central panel set-up arrangements in the EPAD LCS study

	Scotland	England	France	The Netherlands	Spain	Central panel
Initial introduction and invite to panel	Invite letter/email to all participants	Invite letter/email to all participants	Invite letter/email to all participants	Introduced during annual meeting	Selected participants contacted by telephone	Discussed by staff during local panel meetings
Panel enrolment criteria	Allocated on first come first serve basis	Allocated on first come first serve basis	Participants prioritised based on time in the study	Allocated on first come first serve basis	Allocated on first come first serve basis	Nominated by members of local panels
Waiting list for new members in operation?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Chair	Participant	Participant	Participant	Participant	Participant	Staff
Vice-chair	Role not established	Role not established	Participant	Role not established	Participant	Role not established
Frequency of meetings	Every 6 months	Every 6 months	Every 6 months	Every 6 months	Every 3 months	Once a year at General Assembly meeting
Number of participants	12	8	9	7	8	6–10
Communication methods	Face to face, post, email and telephone	Face to face, post, email and telephone	Face to face, email and telephone	Face to face and email	Face to face, post, email and telephone and WhatsApp	Face to face

ISSN: 2056-7529