Organic Engagement: Planting the Seeds to Engage Iowa Veterans in Health Services Research

Stakeholder engagement has gained traction in quality improvement and research circles in recent years, particularly in the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services Research & Development (VA HSR&D). In 2015, the Center for Access and Delivery Research and Evaluation (CADRE), convened our first attempt to engage Veterans in the research process as collaborators rather than research subjects.

What exactly does it mean to engage Veterans in research? This talk explores the ongoing development of CADRE’S Veteran Engagement Panel in the context of the broader movement to include patients as partners in medical research.Stephen Drop, US Army Veteran, Kenda Stewart Steffensmeier, PhD, and Aaron Scherer, PhD, will share their respective insights as panelist, liaison, and researcher.