Promoting inclusivity in research: Lessons from four Group Concept Mapping studies

Many key groups of people (e.g., older people, disabled people and minoritised people) are at risk of being excluded from research, which will affect the generalisability, quality, relevance, and integrity of the research findings and conclusions. However, ways of making research more inclusive have not been adequately explored. Appropriate strategies to maximise the participation of marginalised populations with diverse viewpoints, expertise, and experience are needed to enable them to make meaningful contributions. In this article, we draw lessons from four case studies that used Group Concept Mapping (a type of participatory, consensus research to generate agreement around a topic of interest within a group, community or society). We reflect on how our research was adapted to engage people with diverse needs (e.g., older/frail people, disabled people, people with language barriers, bilingual participants, and people lacking digital skills) in research. This paper highlights the importance of participatory, time and resources, ethical, and intersectionality considerations to enable marginalised populations to be heard and make significant contributions to research.