Akl EA, Khabsa J, Petkovic J, et al. (2024) “Interest‐holders”: a new term to replace “stakeholders” in the context of health research and policy. Cochrane Ev Synth. 2:e70007. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cesm.70007
Abstract
Background: Given the colonial connotations of the term “stakeholder”, its continued use may be perceived as disrespectful to Indigenous Peoples. While several groups have introduced alternative terms, each has its own limitations. The objective of this article is to introduce “interest-holders” as an alternative term to “stakeholders” and describe the discussions underpinning the adoption of the new term by the MuSE Consortium.
Methods: The MuSE Consortium is an international network of over 160 individuals with interest and expertise in different aspects relevant to engagement in research. Members of MuSE explored alternative terms and considered their respective merits and limitations. The deliberations considered the literature on the topic and the results of two consultations with the wider MuSE membership on the alternative terms.
Results: We define “interest-holders” as groups with legitimate interests in the health issue under consideration. The interests arise and draw their legitimacy from the fact that people from these groups are responsible for or affected by health-related decisions that can be informed by research evidence.
Conclusion: As groups other than the MuSE Consortium have started to adopt “interest-holders,” we hope its use will reduce confusion related to the multitude of terms used and convey the intended meaning without any negative connotations.
This is a brief commentary article from 2024 concerning the contested term “stakeholder”. About that time I wrote about this in the Research Impact Canada blog. A couple years later I am comfortable changing my language and I am increasingly seeing alternatives used, but it is not universal and is probably more meaningful in countries with a colonial legacy.
The authors explain the issue. “The term “stakeholder” has colonial connotations. It was historically used to refer to the person who drove a stake into the ground to demarcate the land they were occupying or stealing from Indigenous Peoples. Consequently, there are growing concerns that continued use of the term “stakeholder” may be perceived as disrespectful to Indigenous Peoples.”
A good definition is welcome: “We define “interest-holders” as groups with legitimate interests in the health issue under consideration. The interests arise and draw their legitimacy from the fact that people from these groups are responsible for or affected by health-related decisions that can be informed by research evidence.” Importantly they also say that interest isn’t the same as curiosity or attention and is not meant to suggest a financial interest. They say that interest is an attribute that is inherent to the group. This differentiates the term from others in use. Those other terms differentiated by the authors and include:
- Collaborators or partners
- Decision makers
- Knowledge users
- Interested parties
- Affected groups
- People
- Rights holders
One suggestion the authors refute is to not use an umbrella term at all. “We believe that having an umbrella term is important to advance the agenda of engagement of “interest-holders” in health research and policy.”
One caveat: In 2024, when I was first considering this, I asked the Chair of the Indigenous Council at York University about the issue and he hadn’t heard about it.
Questions for brokers:
- How much of this is coming from Indigenous communities and how much is coming from non-Indigenous folks not wanting to retraumatize (both are good, just wondering)
- Are you using a term instead of stakeholder? Which one and why?
- Stakeholder engagement vs. engagement with interest holders. The latter is clunkier than the former but does this matter?
Research Impact Canada is producing this journal club series to make evidence on KMb more accessible to knowledge brokers and to create online discussion about research on knowledge mobilization. It is designed for knowledge brokers and other people interested in knowledge mobilization. Read this open access article. Then come back to this post and join the journal club by posting your comments on our LinkedIn.