Supplementary material: An evaluation of stakeholder engagement in comparative effectiveness research: lessons learned from SWOG S1415CD

<b>These are peer-reviewed supplementary materials for the article '</b><b>An evaluation of stakeholder engagement </b><b>in comparative effectiveness research: </b><b>lessons learned from SWOG S1415CD</b><b>' published in the</b><b> </b><b><i>Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research</i></b><b>.</b><b>ESAG Interview Questions</b><b>Optional Questions (if time)</b><b>Aim: </b>Stakeholder engagement is central to comparative effectiveness research yet there are gaps in definitions of success. We used a framework developed by Lavallee et al. defining effective engagement criteria to evaluate stakeholder engagement during a pragmatic cluster-randomized trial. <b>Methods:</b> Semistructured interviews were developed from the framework and completed to learn about members’ experiences. Interviews were analyzed in a deductive approach for themes related to the effective engagement criteria. <b>Results: </b>Thirteen members participated and described: respect for ideas, time to achieve consensus, access to information and continuous feedback as areas of effective engagement. The primary criticism was lack of diversity. <b>Discussion: </b>Feedback was positive, particularly among themes of respect, trust and competence, and led to development of a list of best practices for engagement. The framework was successful for evaluating engagement. Conclusion: Standardized frameworks allow studies to formally evaluate their stakeholder engagement approach and develop best practices for future research.