Term	Definition
Reimbursement	Reimbursement of out‐of‐pocket expenses from engagement that are necessary to enable an individual to be engaged as a patient partner (travel, accommodations, parking, meals, child‐care support or personal health care devices such as supplemental oxygen for a plane trip). 2
	Reimbursement is not a form of recognition/appreciation/compensation because patient partners should not pay out‐of‐pocket to be engaged in research. 2
Patient partner	Individuals with lived experience of a health condition and informal caregivers, including family and friends. 5
Patient engagement in research	The inclusion of patients as partners in the research process. Here, research is conducted ‘with’ patients, rather than ‘on’ patients. For example, patient partners can be actively engaged in governance, priority setting, developing the research questions and even performing certain parts of the research itself. 5 , 6
Compensation	Demonstrating appreciation of patient partner time, expertise and involvement in research as a partner. This includes offering something of monetary value, goods or services in exchange for engagement. Compensation can take on one of two forms: nonfinancial compensation and financial compensation. 3 , 4 , 7
Nonfinancial compensation	Offering gifts, tokens of appreciation, opportunities or services in exchange for patient partnership on a research project. For example, this could be coauthorship on manuscripts or research material, facilitating patient partner attendance at a conference, education, or gifts (token of appreciation e.g., flowers, care package, gift card). 3 , 4 , 7
Financial compensation	Financial compensation extends beyond the partner's reimbursement for out‐of‐pocket expenses and includes offering payment or something of monetary value in exchange for their engagement. For example, this could be honoraria, cash or salary (formal payroll). 3 , 4 , 7
	Gifts or gift cards (for grocery stores, restaurants, retail stores, prepaid visa gift cards etc.) are considered financial compensation when the value is informed by a formal conversion (e.g., 2 h of work at 25$ per hour = $50 gift or gift card value) or patient partners decide that they want to receive payment in the form of gifts or gift cards.