Patient engagement can inform healthcare delivery practices, advance provider education, and improve care quality and safety. Unfortunately, their voices are often absent from medical literature because of the baroque conventions of academic writing, complexities of the journal submission and review process, and expensive article processing fees.
The primary aim of this project is to engage with patients or their advocates to assist them in crafting compelling editorials or perspective pieces for publication in academic journals or other outlets that contribute to conversations supporting the evolution of standards of care for their conditions.
Specifically, the project aims to:
- Empower patients and advocates who have specific insights about how care for their conditions should evolve by pairing them with experienced science writers to collaboratively craft their ideas and perspectives into editorials;
- Guide the resulting editorials through the submission and review process for publication and cover any related fees.
By providing expertise and resources to help patient advocates share their viewpoints, this project can broaden the conversations surrounding standards of care or approaches to treatment for certain medical conditions, promote equity in the practice of medicine, and help to ensure that care is shaped by and truly representative of the needs and experiences of those who are most affected.
Project team lead: Caitlin Rivers, PhD, MPH
Project team: Alyson Browett, MPH; Alanna Fogarty, MPH, MSc
Project supported by: Johns Hopkins Center for Innovative Medicine, Johns Hopkins Catalyst Award
