Patient and public involvement and engagement
Within the department, there is a well-established panel of public contributors who are current or past blood donors. Two members of the public (blood donors) joined the STRIDES trial management group (TMG) during the design phase and a third member of the public joined six months before the start of the feasibility study. Public members were involved in study design, development of study materials, implementation, governance and decision-making about dissemination of study outcomes. Two additional blood donors sat on two other overarching governance and steering committees. Feedback was also collected from blood donors on the study documentation including patient information leaflet, study consent form, communication text (SMS, website), and design of the interventions (e.g. selecting isotonic drink brand/flavours).Forms of dissemination will include academic publications, conference presentations, stakeholder meetings, and workshops with blood donors. For the public and other relevant stakeholders, the trial protocol and results will be disseminated via website, email and social media. We will also prepare materials to share key information with NHSBT staff, blood donors and the general public. Lay materials will be co-designed with blood donors and NHSBT, to ensure they are relevant, understandable and impactful.