Development and validation of a pragmatic measure of cocreation in research engagement: a study protocol

Cocreation, a collaborative process of key interested partners working alongside researchers, is fundamental to community-engaged research. However, the field of community-engaged research is currently grappling with a significant gap: the lack of a pragmatic and validated measure to assess the quality of this process. This protocol addresses this significant gap by developing and testing a pragmatic cocreation measure with diverse community and research partners involved in participatory health-related research. A valid measure for evaluating the quality of the cocreation process can significantly promote inclusive research practices and outcomes.

The measure consists of two components: (1) an iterative group assessment to prioritise cocreation principles and identify specific activities for achieving those principles and (2) a survey assessing individual partner experience. An expert panel of 16-20 patients, community, healthcare providers and research partners, will participate in a modified Delphi process to assist in construct delineation and assess content validity using group discussions and rating exercises. We will compute survey items using an Item-Level Content Validity Index and a modified kappa statistic to adjust for chance agreement with panel members' ratings. We will then conduct cognitive interviews with a new group of 40 participants to assess survey item comprehension and interpretation, applying an iterative coding process to analyse the data. Finally, we will assess the measure's psychometric and pragmatic characteristics with a convenience sample of 300 participants and use the Psychometric and Pragmatic Evidence Rating Scale. Construct validity will be assessed by examining survey data using confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis.

This funded study (years 2024-2025) has been approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Colorado, Denver. The team will share the study findings online, with key partners, and by publishing results in a peer-reviewed journal.