• Stephen Mason, Julie Ling, Daniela Mosoiu, María Arantzamendi, Aliki J Tserkezoglou, Oana Predoiu, and Sheila Payne.
• Palliative Care Unit, Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
• J Palliat Med. 2021 Dec 1; 24 (12): 1867-1871.

AbstractBackground: Nominal group technique (NGT) is a well-established research method for establishing consensus. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, research methods need to be adapted to engage with participants online. Objective: To determine the feasibility and acceptability of adapting NGT to an online format. Setting: Palliative care clinicians (n = 31) in Greece, Romania, and Spain. Methods: NGT discussions were used to elicit palliative care clinicians' opinions, and to rank priorities regarding their understanding and needs about clinical research. Preliminary online training of country-based facilitators was followed by content analysis of debriefing reports to capture learning related to the online NGT format. Results/Implementation: Three NGT sessions used online platforms (Zoom/MS Office/Mentimeter) for the meetings. Analysis of the facilitator reports generated three themes: preparation/facilitation/timing; optimizing technology; and interactions. Conclusions: Conducting NGT meetings online is viable and may be advantageous when compared with traditional face-to-face meetings, but requires careful preparation for participants to contribute effectively.

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