Building Timely Consensus Among Diverse Stakeholders: An Adapted Nominal Group Technique

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Geriatric Care
• Qualitative Research Methods

Background:

• Achieving consensus among diverse stakeholders is crucial in primary health care research.
• The traditional nominal group technique faces challenges with stakeholder representation and time efficiency.
• Effective consensus-building methods are needed to inform research and policy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate an adapted nominal group technique for efficiently reaching consensus among diverse stakeholders.
• To identify priority care domains for individuals aged 65 and older.
• To mitigate challenges of representation and time associated with traditional consensus methods.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an adapted nominal group technique with 4 key strategies.
• Recruited 4 diverse stakeholder groups (older adults, clinicians, managers, decision-makers) using maximum variation and snowballing sampling.
• Incorporated remote tools, an individual pre-elicitation activity, and adaptive discussions for enhanced engagement and effectiveness.

Main Results:

• Achieved consensus on the priority domain 'symptoms, functioning, and quality of care' after one round of discussion with 28 participants.
• Adaptive group discussions and remote tools proved most effective in the consensus-building process.
• Participants reported expressing views freely, with some suggesting better alignment between research objectives and practice/policy implications.

Conclusions:

• The adapted nominal group technique is an effective and enriching method for timely consensus-building among diverse health care stakeholders.
• This methodology offers a valuable approach for health care researchers across various fields.
• The adapted technique successfully addresses limitations of traditional methods, enhancing participation and efficiency.