Table 3.

Experiences with virtual platforms for patient engagement (N = 194/415)

Type of impact	% (N)	Illustrative quote
Negative experiences
Interpersonal challenges	26.8% (52)	‘It has become less enjoyable. Part of the reason I became involved was to improve my social life. I had retired from a successful business career and participation in these programs has helped me as much as I have helped the projects. The pandemic has generally made participation less enjoyable due to limitation of social connection within virtual meetings’
Quality of engagement is reduced	17.0% (33)	‘Most engagement is done in video conferencing and sometimes it can be problematic. Harder to get your voice heard or be able to read the room to ensure others are supportive’
Technological barriers to engagement	13.4% (26)	‘IT glitches stress me out and affect my desire to participate. Hard to stay focused and committed online. Not impossible, just less than ideal. Our virtual platforms are way too varied’
Generally struggling with virtual	7.7% (15)	‘Most [activities] were cancelled then went virtual, which is hard’
Loss of compensation	2.1% (4)	‘Since the expense checks were, in fact, my only source of income, I lost it when things went virtual but am not eligible for any income replacement programs’
Too many virtual meetings	2.1% (4)	‘Another way the pandemic has affected me is that I actually am attending more meetings that I truly wish to attend. Meetings are increased (due to savings in travel time), but that means I have meetings conflicting at the same time. I am even at the point where I sometimes am attending and listening to two or three meetings at the same time even though everyone sees me online in just their meeting’
Positive experiences
Virtual engagement is fine, made things easier	17.0% (23)	‘I'm actually able to better participate because I couldn't always make meetings but Zoom makes it much easier to be involved. In the past, when I would call into a meeting, it was very hard to participate and feel included…but now everyone is online, so that's a good thing’
Less travel, less wasted time	7.2% (14)	‘We are working remotely, which actually allows me to take on a lot more than I typically would be capable of’
Increased accessibility because of virtual engagement	6.7% (13)	‘I am involved in many more activities than prior to the pandemic because the rest of my life has stopped, and I have more time plus everything is done virtually. Due to chronic conditions travelling to downtown and other locations made it difficult to impossible to do so. It often was an expense to me because I had to take community drive program. Even where compensation was offered, it did not cover these costs’
Created new opportunities	5.2% (10)	‘It has definitely increased my ability to attend meetings and conferences as they are all being held virtually’