Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2025

Involving Individuals with Developmental Language Disorder and Their Parents/Carers in Research Priority Setting
Published on: June 6, 2020
Discontinuing the Term "Stakeholder" From the NIA IMPACT Collaboratory Engaging Partners Team: An Example of the
Evan Plys1, Karen O Moss2, Kristen Jacklin3
1Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research (EP, NA), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Department of Psychiatry (EP), Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
None:
In this paper, we describe our process of changing language of the National Institute on Aging Imbedded Pragmatic Alzheimer's disease and AD-related dementias Clinical Trials Collaboratory (NIA IMPACT Collaboratory) "Stakeholder Engagement Team" to "Engaging Partners Team" in response to feedback from community partners regarding the problematic connotations of the term "stakeholder." We present a brief history of the term "stakeholder" and its use in clinical and community-engaged research. Then, we summarize critiques of this term, including its colonial history and potential to reinforce complacency with generational traumas, particularly among Indigenous peoples and communities. We conclude with a detailed overview of our team and organization's multi-step process to discontinue use of the term "stakeholder," in alignment with a theoretical model of organizational behavior change. This paper highlights the importance of critically evaluating language and responding to community partners. We hope our process can guide other researchers and organizations.
Related Concept Videos
Language Development
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
Levels of Communication II: Organizational, Public, and Group Dynamics
Language and Cognition
Components of Language
Barriers to Effective Communication II
Cultural barriers:
Differences in values, beliefs, religion, knowledge, and tradition can significantly impact communication. Awareness of nonverbal cues is critical, especially when conversing with a patient from a different culture. What appears appropriate in one culture may be inappropriate in another.
Semantic barriers:
As a result of their tendency to use...
Language
Corballis and Suddendorf (2007) and Tomasello and Rakoczy (2003) highlight the role of language in...

