Involvement of Patient and Family Representatives in Health-Care Job Interview Panels

OBJECTIVES: The involvement of patient and family representatives in job interview panels is sparsely documented. This study was conducted at a newly established university hospital in Denmark. The aim was to identify different perspectives on attitudes and experiences associated with involving patient and family representatives in the recruitment process for senior staff. Furthermore, the aim was to highlight considerations and reservations related to the subsequent implementation process. METHODS: Inspiration was drawn from formative evaluation research. DATA SOURCES: Seventeen telephone interviews with applicants, 49 e-mail responses from staff, and unsolicited e-mails to the researcher. ANALYSIS STRATEGY: Interpretive description. RESULTS: Learnings from the study showed among other things that the participating staff experienced widespread skepticism before participation in the job interview panels, but their experience in the panels led them to consider the patients’ and families’ input to be beneficial to the entire recruitment process. The considerations and reservations raised were divided into 5 themes. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide a relevant starting point to negotiate and refine the aims of collective patient involvement related to a given situation—such as health-care recruitment processes.