OPREM


Hamzeh, Joshua; Pluye, Pierre; Bush, Paula; Hudon, Catherine (2018). The Organizational Participatory Research Evaluation Method (OPREM). McGill Family Medicine Studies Online, 13: e05.

 

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Summary

In the health domain, organizational participatory research (OPR) is defined as a blend of research and action, in which academic researchers partner with health organization members (e.g., clinicians, managers of health and social care settings, and patients) to improve organizational practices. Evaluation of partnership processes and outcomes provide information about partnership development, functioning and deliverables; this may help ameliorate stakeholder competency for participatory research and determine whether the partnership was worth the investment. However, little is known about OPR partnership assessment methods. As such, Hamzeh et al. (2018) performed a systematic review of OPR health partnership questionnaires. Six questionnaires were identified. A pool of items was derived from the six questionnaires. This item pool led to the development of a theoretical model that frames the assessment of OPR health partnerships, and the Organizational Participatory Research Evaluation Method (OPREM). The OPREM has three axes with four to five specific dimensions each: (1) Trust (Supportive Environment, Developing a Common Understanding, Shared Power, Strategic Alignment of Group with Organization), (2) Collective Learning (New Knowledge, New Attitudes, New Practices, Problem Solving, Personal Concerns), and (3) Sustainability (Commitment, Partnership Gelling, Effective Resource Allocation, Synergy). It contains 95 items with Likert scale responses. Compared to previous work, the OPREM is partially validated (initial steps of content validation were applied): it is supported by a theoretical model, a review of existing questionnaires [pool of dimensions and items], and the work of a few experts [over multiple meetings]. Future work will test the measurement properties of the OPREM.