Understanding patient and caregiver experiences is a critical component of the conception, design, and implementation of clinical research studies. The “Database of Individual Patient Experiences” (DIPEx) is an innovative, evidence-based approach for eliciting rich information about health experiences. We conducted a formative evaluation with 14 pediatric oncology researchers to assess the value of using data from a DIPEx study on patient and caregiver experiences with childhood cancer to inform patient-centered research in pediatric oncology. Participants identified barriers to incorporating patient perspectives and experiences into their research and how the DIPEx approach could be leveraged to facilitate this practice.

Attempts to develop a better understanding of the interaction between the compensation environment and injured workers suggest that the compensation environment may negatively impact on the psychological wellbeing of injured workers. This study offers a complementary perspective to contemporary quantitative studies exploring the psychosocial aspects of workplace injury and disability, and contributes to the growing body of qualitative data on the interaction of personal and environmental factors influencing recovery from work injury. The beliefs and experience of injured workers, as explored through ethnographic interviewing, offer insight to the social meaning and relationships comprised in the compensation environment and reveal the pervasive impact of workplace injury across personal, social and occupational spheres. Poor claims administration and hostile interpersonal interactions are identified as particular sources of frustration and discontent for injured workers. Strong themes of perceived injustice emerge as a potentially valuable area for future research in improving the outcomes of compensable injury.