Evaluation of a technical advisory board for an occupational injury surveillance research project: A qualitative study

Abstract

Background and Aims: Advisory boards play a key role in guiding and informing research programs, including occupational health surveillance. It is important to evaluate the effectiveness of these advisory boards. This report details the organization of the Risk Information System for Commercial (RISC) Fishing Technical Advisory Board (TAB), the approach taken to evaluate the TAB, and the results of the evaluation. The RISC TAB was formed to provide advice and recommendations to the study team and informed the development and use of the safety surveillance system. Methods: The evaluation approach was informed by limited previous literature on advisory board assessments. This evaluation was conducted in Year 5 of the 6-year project. A review of the meeting notes, materials and correspondences, and study progress was conducted internally to document input from the board and associated actions. To obtain member perspectives, we surveyed the TAB and discussed it in a subsequent TAB meeting. Results: The RISC Fishing TAB members constitute a wide variety of commercial fishing safety stakeholders. The internal analysis identified the main project aspects and 14 of the proposed changes from the TAB that have either been implemented or are in progress in the project. Ten of the 15 TAB members responded indicating a positive experience on board organization and conduct. Conclusion: Evaluation of advisory boards is an essential part of a research program. A process is outlined in this report to inform future efforts to document measurable ways to inform projects based on advisory board feedback and reflections.