Patient engagement (PE) is not well defined and little guidance is available to those decision-making relevant to health system improvement. After completing a 2 Committee, our objectives were: 1) to evaluate examine how Advisory Committee members perceived PE and their role in PE, and 3) to identify barriers and facilitators to PE in order to improve future efforts. structured interviews post-project about their experiences. Thematic analysis identified four themes: the approach, participant contributions, participant understanding approach was considered beneficial, providing an opportunity to discuss the project in depth, contributing to relationship building, and helping move the project forward. The social aspect important part of the engagement process. Participants felt they contributed primarily by participating in discussion, yet could not identify specific contributions they had made. All participants agreed that the experienc not profound with regard to how it would impact their engagement, or Although experiences were highly subjective, this study suggests that the act of participating in PE has meaning in and of itself to those involved, independent of the activities and/or outcomes of that participation, reflecting a broader public value that PE is an important component of transparent, accountable health systems.

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