Abstract
BackgroundStakeholders, as originally defined in theory, are groups or individual who can affect or are affected by an issue. Stakeholders are an important source of information in health research, providing critical perspectives and new insights on the complex determinants of health. The intersection of built and social environments with older adult mobility is an area of research that is fundamentally interdisciplinary and would benefit from a better understanding of stakeholder perspectives. Although a rich body of literature surrounds stakeholder theory, a systematic process for identifying health stakeholders in practice does not exist. This paper presents a framework of stakeholders related to older adult mobility and the built environment, and further outlines a process for systematically identifying stakeholders that can be applied in other health contexts, with a particular emphasis on concept mapping research.MethodsInformed by gaps in the relevant literature we developed a framework for identifying and categorizing health stakeholders. The framework was created through a novel iterative process of stakeholder identification and categorization. The development entailed a literature search to identify stakeholder categories, representation of identified stakeholders in a visual chart, and correspondence with expert informants to obtain practice-based insight.ResultsThe three-step, iterative creation process progressed from identifying stakeholder categories, to identifying specific stakeholder groups and soliciting feedback from expert informants. The result was a stakeholder framework comprised of seven categories with detailed sub-groups. The main categories of stakeholders were, (1) the Public, (2) Policy makers and governments, (3) Research community, (4) Practitioners and professionals, (5) Health and social service providers, (6) Civil society organizations, and (7) Private business.ConclusionsStakeholders related to older adult mobility and the built environment span many disciplines and realms of practice. Researchers studying this issue may use the detailed stakeholder framework process we present to identify participants for future projects. Health researchers pursuing stakeholder-based projects in other contexts are encouraged to incorporate this process of stakeholder identification and categorization to ensure systematic consideration of relevant perspectives in their work.
Highlights
Stakeholders, as originally defined in theory, are groups or individual who can affect or are affected by an issue
The iterative process was articulated as the following series of three main steps: 1. Identify a relevant framework of stakeholder categories Based on an iterative search of the literature, no frameworks of stakeholder categories specific to older adult mobility, the built environment, or social environments were identified
The most concise and explicit articulations of health stakeholders for concept mapping was listed by Trochim and Kane [23]
Summary
Stakeholders, as originally defined in theory, are groups or individual who can affect or are affected by an issue. Stakeholders are an important source of information in health research, providing critical perspectives and new insights on the complex determinants of health. This paper presents a framework of stakeholders related to older adult mobility and the built environment, and further outlines a process for systematically identifying stakeholders that can be applied in other health contexts, with a particular emphasis on concept mapping research. Groups and individuals affected by an issue (such as public health practitioners and community members) possess critical insight that may inform all aspects of the research process, providing valuable input in all stages from setting research priorities, to disseminating and implementing results [4]. The diversity of perspectives that stakeholders possess may be relevant to understanding the complex determinants of health which figure centrally in public health research and practice. The review highlights the increasingly widespread use of concept mapping in health research; of the 69 articles reviewed, over 59% had a public health orientation [8]
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