Patient engagement: What partnering with patient in research is all about

The inclusion of patients on important decision related to healthcare has marked a significant 'patient revolution' during the last several decades. Patients now played active roles in personal health decisions, healthcare delivery and policy making, and the development of clinical practice guidelines. Such inclusion of patients' values has resulted in largely positive effects. The next wave of this 'patient revolution' is active and meaningful engagement with patients in health related research. Similar to other aspects of healthcare, it is increasingly recognized that experienced patients, their families, and caregivers, have a wealth of knowledge that comes from living and experiencing a medical condition. By understanding and valuing this experience-based knowledge, research priority setting, research study design, trial conduct, analysis of results and knowledge dissemination can be positively influenced. Patients can challenge our assumptions, align research with the needs of patients, increase transparency and trust in research, and lead to research that has a greater impact on the ultimate care of patients. This new approach to research is timed well with a larger movement towards simple, pragmatic clinical trials better reflecting realistic patient care. While there is still much to be learned about the best methods and exact impacts of patient engagement in research, preliminary results are promising and future venous thromboembolism research will likely benefit from the adoption of patient engagement in research.