UCSF

Involving communities in research prioritization is an important component of developing relevant research, policy, and healthcare questions. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to an increased need for research prioritization methods which align with public health protections. The Research Prioritization by Affected Communities (RPAC) protocol is a participatory method which directly involves historically excluded communities in developing and prioritizing research questions. We adapted the RPAC protocol for the virtual environment (RPAC-ve) to understand the research, healthcare delivery, and policy priorities of greatest importance to communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to pregnancy in the United States. RPAC-ve included the use of a web-based platform, sharable documents for listing and ranking research questions, and a scribe to capture a visual representation of RPAC-ve sessions. RPAC-ve is a flexible and effective priority setting method which can be used to engage high risk populations.