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Table 6 Challenges encountered and solutions utilized to improve stakeholder engagement, by category

From: Stakeholder engagement in eight comparative effectiveness trials in African Americans and Latinos with asthma

Challenges

Solutions

Recruiting and retaining stakeholders

Identifying stakeholder partners

Turnover of stakeholder members on the advisory board

Word of mouth

Assistance from community leaders or organizations to recruit stakeholders

Use of existing infrastructure for community engagement

Recommendation by current stakeholders to replace stakeholders who have left

Maintaining enthusiasm and participation

Varying levels of enthusiasm in engagement activities

Competing priorities among stakeholder members

Deviation of the discussions beyond the scope of the project

Lack of participation

Difficulty in finding common location

Inconsistent attendance due to busy schedule, or patient partner's health

Define expectations upfront

Set clear purpose and value for each meeting

Have experienced facilitator lead the advisory board meetings

To increase youth members’ participation, ask their input first before adult members

Provide meals and honoraria at meetings

Send meeting minutes, project updates, made study materials accessible to stakeholders via Dropbox

Conduct meetings in Spanish

Start and end meeting on time

Allow remote options for attendance (phone, video conference)

Maintaining mutual partnership

Ensure that stakeholder input is reflected and had true influence in the project

Gain mutual benefit from collaboration

Absolute transparency with the stakeholders to show that their work leads to measurable change

Invite advisory board member to the research team

Provide brief presentations on asthma education relevant to stakeholders and their families