Using the PORLET to Build and Propose a Project
The following is an example proposal for a Traineeship research project. The highlighted portions indicate what areas in the proposed research correspond to and address the five component areas of the PORLET.
Patients are partners
Describe how patients will be actively involved as team members in planning, decision making and co-leading the creation and/or sharing of the knowledge within this research project.
The patient partners in this research team include Lisa, a woman who was diagnosed with MS in 2005, and Raymond, a peer support facilitator at the Saskatchewan chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Saskatchewan Advocacy Committee (MS SKAC). Both respectively drew on their lived experience and professional expertise to shape the research question. It was important for me, as an advocate, to explore physical interventions for improving the wellness of MS patients. With Raymond’s involvement, he introduced me to a peer-led exercise program that was suggested by his clients. The specific exercises were chosen by Dr. Mark Ly, a physical therapist, and the program itself will be led by MS patients. Lisa also supported the evaluation of this exercise program, because she finds the support that she’s received from other MS patients (e.g., online chat rooms, MS walking groups) to be especially beneficial for managing her illness. The Patient Partners’ names are also listed on the research ethics application which is currently under review. Moving forward in the data collection process, the Patient Partners will be engaged in the decision-making processes. Lisa will be co-collecting the data with me. Lisa and Raymond will also be involved in recruiting participants (i.e., MS patients) from their personal and professional networks. Once the findings are analyzed and ready to be disseminated, Lisa and Raymond, as well as the patients who participated in the research project, will be responsible for making decisions about the knowledge translation process.
Patient- identified priorities
Summarize how patients with lived experience have helped and/or will help identify that the proposed research topic is a priority to patients. Include details of the methods used to identify or validate the research priority among patients.
The research question for this project was shaped by my review of the literature and my advocacy interests in MS, which has influenced my decision to study kinesiology. Before submitting my thesis proposal, I recruited and met with Lisa, the Patient Partner for this project, and Raymond, a peer support facilitator at MS SKAC, to discuss the research question. They helped shape the research focus area – initially, I aimed to explore how an online exercise intervention could mitigate physical symptoms of MS; however, Lisa and Raymond suggested that the combination of peer support and exercise would be an important and novel area to explore for MS patients. As such, the current research question aims to evaluate the short-term effects of a peer-led, pilot exercise program on MS patients’ wellness and feelings of pain. This exercise program was initiated by MS SKAC and co-designed by MS patients and Dr. Mark Ly, a physical therapist.
Outcomes important to patients
Describe how outcomes important to patients will be chosen and measured. Explain how the knowledge created through the proposed research will be used to improve outcomes important to patients.
While MS manifests as a physical illness, the resulting loss of motor abilities can also affect patients’ self-image and mental wellness. Thus, it was important for me as the student researcher to identify research outcomes that can improve patients’ wellness. In this study, patients’ well-being will be measured through quantitative and qualitative methods. As an MSc student, I suggested quantitative methods because of my background in statistics, but Lisa, the Patient Partner, suggested that qualitative outcomes could be more meaningful to the patient community who are not experts in understanding the significance of numbers. My thesis supervisor also agreed that mixed methods could be carried out, in the case that I do not find any quantitative significance in my data analysis. If the results of this study find that patients’ well-being and feelings of pain are improved because of this pilot peer-led exercise program, then future patients who participate in the exercise program could experience similar wellness outcomes.
Team is multi-disciplinary
Describe how the research will be influenced by relevant disciplines and stakeholders throughout the project.
As the student researcher for this project, I am someone who is an advocate for multiple sclerosis. My thesis supervisor is a strong POR researcher and has engaged with the MS community in his research as well. He is well-distinguished as an MS researcher and has many connections in the field, which has helped with Patient Partner recruitment. His supervision will ensure this research fits within the POR paradigm. The research team also includes a neurologist, physical therapist, Patient Partner, and a representative from the local chapter of the MS SKAC. The research question stemmed from my literature review and was shaped by the Patient Partner and my supervisor. The Patient Partner and representative from MS SKAC will be involved in data collection either by co-collecting the data with me, and/or by recruiting patients to participate in the study. The physical therapist will be engaged in refining the exercise program based on patients’ feedback. The Patient Partner, neurologist and MS SKAC representative will be engaged in the knowledge translation process to ensure that the anticipated findings are relevant and will be incorporated into healthcare system policies.
Aims to integrate knowledge into practice
Outline the steps required to implement an integrated and end-of-grant translation strategy. Include the roles patients and end-users will play with creation and implementation of these plans.
Patient Partners and stakeholders will lead the knowledge translation process. Once the results are ready, myself and the Patient Partners will host a meeting to share the results and ask the Patient Partner and stakeholder groups how they would like these findings to be shared and what knowledge translation products they would want to see. As an MSc student, the main outcome of this research will be my final thesis. It is also important for me to share findings with the academic community, so I would like to present the findings of my thesis through a poster at a virtual academic conference. I would invite the Patient Partner to co-create the poster with me and I will cover their registration costs. I would also be interested in publishing these findings in an academic journal that has a high impact factor and is open source so that the broader patient community can draw on these findings to shape their treatment plans.