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About the Wisconsin Network for Research Support

Overview of WINRS

WINRS logo"Stakeholder engagement" is no longer on the fringes of health sciences research and practice. Researchers and health care professionals are seeing the value of incorporating stakeholder perspectives in project and program activities. Funding organizations are requiring engagement to ensure that research is relevant to stakeholders and can be applied in the real world.

We know that stakeholder engagement can feel a bit like a puzzle: there are a lot of pieces that need to fit together to get the best results. At the Wisconsin Network for Research Support (WINRS), we are passionate about meaningful engagement and love to work hand-in-hand with project teams! WINRS provides fee-for-service consultation to anyone who wants to effectively engage stakeholders and study participants, espeically people from under-represented communities.

Stakeholder Engagement

WINRS supports effective stakeholder engagement in activities ranging from one-time meetings to multi-year projects. Tailoring our services to meet the unique needs of each client, we:

  • Advise on stakeholder engagement plans and budgets for grant proposals
  • Design strategies for successful recruitment and retention of study/program participants
  • Develop and deliver interactive training programs for a variety of stakeholder advisory groups
  • Provide coaching and templates to plan meeting activities and sustain productive stakeholder engagement
  • Revise community-facing materials* to make them engaging and easy to understand
  • Conduct evaluation of stakeholder engagement activities

*Examples of materials include recruitment materials; web pages; survey or interview questions; video scripts; and abstracts for non-scientist reviewers.

Community Advisors on Research Design and Strategies (CARDS)®

An innovative service created by WINRS, the CARDS® are groups of community members from diverse backgrounds who review materials developed for research, education, and outreach.  Since 2010, WINRS staff have planned and facilitated over 175 meetings at local community centers between clients and the CARDS®, who provide unique feedback on written materials, websites, survey questions, smartphone apps, and more. Clients can participate in CARDS® meetings in-person or remotely.

Contact for More Information

For information on services and fees, please contact:

Gay Thomas at grthomas@wisc.edu or Betty Kaiser at blkaiser@wisc.edu

http://winrs.nursing.wisc.edu/

WINRS is supported in part by grant UL1 TR000427 to the UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research from NIH/NCATS, and the UW-Madison School of Nursing. 

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