Methods of consumer involvement in developing healthcare policy and research, clinical practice guidelines and patient information material

Consumer involvement in the development of healthcare policy and research, clinical practice guidelines and information for patients
The importance of consumer involvement at all levels of the health services is widely recognised. This review shows that little research has been done to find the best ways of involving consumers in healthcare decisions at the population level. Most of the included studies compared consultations with consumers with no consultations with consumers. There is moderate quality evidence from two studies that involving consumers in the development of patient information material results in material that is more relevant, readable and understandable, without affecting anxiety. This 'consumer-informed' material can also improve knowledge. Two studies, which compared using consumer interviewers with staff interviewers as data collectors for patient satisfaction surveys, found small differences in satisfaction survey results, with less favourable results obtained when consumers were the interviewers. One study, comparing two different methods for involving the public (telephone discussion and a face-to-face group meeting), showed that face-to-face meeting is most likely to change consumers' views on community health priorities.

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