Beyond the Manuscript: Defining and Measuring Community Engagement and Community-Engaged Research:

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-163
Author(s):  
Karen Calhoun ◽  
Mickey Eder ◽  
Jessica Holzer
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Community Engaged Research

scholarly journals 3573 Critical Barriers to Effective Community-Academic Research Partnerships and Potential Solutions

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (s1) ◽  
pp. 86-87
Author(s):  
Susan J Woolford ◽  
Ayse G. Buyuktur ◽  
Patricia Piechowski ◽  
Aalap Doshi ◽  
Erica E. Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
The State ◽  
Academic Institutions ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Research Partnerships ◽  
Partnership Development ◽  
Community Engaged Research ◽  
Academic Partnerships ◽  
Effective Community

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Background: The importance of engaging community in research and fostering community-academic research partnerships is increasingly acknowledged by Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) institutes. However, forming and maintaining such collaborations is often hampered by numerous challenges. It is critical to investigate the barriers to effective community-academic partnerships and to develop novel approaches to overcome these barriers. Objective: To explore community and academic perspectives of the challenges faced by community-academic research partnerships and potential solutions to these identified challenges. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Methods: In an effort to explore creative approaches to address these issues, the Community Engagement Program at the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR), the CTSA site that serves Michigan, hosted a retreat to elicit the input of community members and academics from across the state. There was a mix of participants ranging from those with established community-academic partnerships to others who were new to community-engaged research and in early stages of forming partnerships. At the retreat, attendees were randomly divided into groups and asked to answer the specific question, “What are your barriers to partnering in research?” After each group identified a set of barriers and reported their findings to the entire room, attendees were asked to work again in their small groups to discuss potential solutions to these barriers. Ideas for solutions were also shared with the entire room. As part of the process of brainstorming about these questions, attendees were asked to document their ideas --- for both barriers and solutions --- on post-it notes which were then grouped by category. Artifacts from the retreat were saved digitally and transcripts made from these records. The findings were then analyzed to identify common themes. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Results: Eighty-six participants attended the retreat from across the state of Michigan. Forty-three represented community organizations that focus on addressing a wide array of social determinants of health issues. The remaining forty-three participants represented various academic institutions. The most frequently mentioned challenges to community-academic partnerships were related to communication and relationship building. To overcome barriers in these areas, participants noted that it is critical to collaboratively and explicitly identify shared goals, values and norms in the early stages of partnership development. This was closely linked to the need for additional funding to help foster and strengthen relationships by allowing partners to spend time together to both work and socialize informally, preferably in face-to-face settings. These were deemed crucial for building trust and common ground. In addition, more equitable funding and role distribution --- including shared leadership and governance of research projects between community and academia--- that recognizes and supports the true costs of involvement in research for community members was viewed as important. Other frequently noted issues on the part of community members were the need for greater respect for community partners and for more training opportunities to build capacity within communities to participate in research. Participants from academic institutions emphasized that the current requirements and timeline for promotion in academia make it harder for them to participate in community-engaged research, especially as early career researchers. They maintained that wider recognition of the value of community-engaged research is necessary and that this requires the support of home departments. Finally, participants underscored the importance of building infrastructure to better connect potential partners from the community and academia by making it easier to identify common interests and reciprocal strengths. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Conclusion: The problems faced by community-academic partnerships may be alleviated by working with community and academic members to identify potential solutions. Further work is needed to systematically examine barriers and the efficacy of solutions to enhance community-academic partnerships. Acknowledgements: We thank all attendees of the MICHR Community Engagement retreat for their participation in this activity that explored barriers to effective community-academic partnerships. Their honest and frank feedback was essential to broaching sensitive topics related to partnership development, and to identify realistic and practical solutions. We also thank all members of the planning committee and our colleagues in the Community Engagement Program for their work on bringing together community and academic members for this retreat. This project was supported by grant number UL1TR002240 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).

Promoting and Advocating for Ethical Community Engagement: Transparency in the Community-engaged Research Spectrum

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-424
Author(s):  
Darcy Jones McMaughan ◽  
Suzanne M. Dolwick Grieb ◽  
Roula Kteily-Hawa ◽  
Kent D. Key
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Community Engaged Research

scholarly journals Gateways: Expanding knowledge through broader participation

2008 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Phil Nyden ◽  
Paul Ashton ◽  
Julie Davis ◽  
Marilyn Krogh ◽  
Reuben Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Community Leaders ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Engaged Research ◽  
Scholarship Of Engagement ◽  
Global Movement ◽  
Research Initiatives

This new journal, Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, responds to a growing global movement of university-collaborative research initiatives. It also strives to fill a gap created by the sparse number of journals which publish outcomes of community-engaged research and work concerning community engagement. We seek articles based on research that is the result of actively engaged research-practitioner collaborative projects, has the potential of informing community-based activities or develops understanding of community engagement. Combining different knowledge bases that have traditionally been separated into academic and non-academic worlds can dramatically increase information flowing to scholars, community leaders and activists seeking to improve the quality of life in local communities around the world. We also wish to encourage work that contributes to the scholarship of engagement.

scholarly journals 3347 Developing Relevant Community Engagement Metrics to Evaluate Engagement Support and Outcomes

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (s1) ◽  
pp. 87-88
Author(s):  
Grisel M. Robles-Schrader ◽  
Keith A Herzog ◽  
Josefina Serrato
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Process Analysis ◽  
National Level ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
Community Engaged Research ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Academic Partnerships

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: The goals in this project were two-fold:. Develop metrics that assessed community engagement support the center provides, and. Systematically document the fluid and time-intensive nature of providing community engaged research support, as well as key outcomes. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: The CCH utilized REDCap software in combination with Excel, to create and implement a data collection system to monitor and report on the full spectrum of engagement activities offered by the center. Center staff collaborated in identifying relevant metrics, developing the data collection instruments, and beta-testing instruments with real examples. This facilitated the integration of contextual factors (defined as factors such as the history, size, and diversity of the community, the organizational mission, the structure and size of the CE team, the number of years a university has been supporting community-engaged research work, etc.). Taking a collaborative approach in developing the center’s evaluation plan offered the added benefit of facilitating staff/faculty buy-in, building staff capacity, and engaging the team in understanding concepts related to performance measurement versus management. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Key benefits of these engagement tracking systems include: consolidating data into a central location, standardizing tracking processes and critical definitions, and supporting more automated reporting systems (e.g., dashboards) that facilitate quality improvement and highlight success stories. Data were compiled and reported via on-line dashboard (REDCap and Tableau) to help center leadership and staff analyze:. Quality improvement issues (How quickly are we responding to a request for support? Are we providing resources that meet the needs of community partners? Academics? Community-academic partnerships?);. Qualitative process analysis (In what research phase are we typically receiving requests for support (e.g. proposal development phase, implementation phase, etc.)? What types of projects are applying for seed grants? After the seed grant ends, are the community-academic partnerships continuing to partner on research activities?);. Outcomes (Are new partnerships stemming from our support? Are supported research projects leading to new policies, practices, programs?). DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: There is a gap in the literature regarding meaningful, actionable, and feasible community engaged metrics that capture critical processes and outcomes. This project identified many more relevant metrics and demonstrates that it is worthwhile to take a collaborative, inclusive approach to identifying, tracking, and reporting on key process and outcome metrics in order to convey a more comprehensive picture of community engagement activities and to inform continuous improvement efforts. Community engagement centers across CTSIs offer a similar range of programs and services. At the same time, much of the community-engaged research literature describes metrics related to community-academic grant submissions, funds awarded, and peer-reviewed publications. Experts that work in the arena of providing community engagement support recognize that these metrics are sufficient in understanding the spectrum of engagement opportunities. Community engagement (CE) teams nationally can utilize these metrics in developing their evaluation infrastructure. At the national level, NCATS can utilize the metrics for CE common metrics related to these programs and services. Critical to this process:. Leveraging resources that will facilitate collecting generalizable data (national metrics) while allowing sites to continue collecting nuanced data (local programs and services). Gathering input from CE teams, stakeholders, and researchers to further refine these metrics and data collection methods. Utilizing REDCap, Tableau and other resources that can facilitate data collection and analysis efforts.

scholarly journals 3406 Understanding the Barriers, Challenges, and Facilitators to Community-Engaged Research: A Review of a CTSA Community Engagement Pilot Program

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (s1) ◽  
pp. 99-100
Author(s):  
Ashley Dunn ◽  
Kendra L. Smith ◽  
Rhonda McClinton-Brown ◽  
Jill W. Evans ◽  
Lisa Goldman-Rosas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Disparities ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Translational Research ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Pilot Program ◽  
Stanford University ◽  
Community Engaged Research ◽  
Academic Partnerships ◽  
Clinical And Translational Research

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Engaging patients and consumers in research is a complex process where innovative strategies are needed to effectively translate scientific discoveries into improvements in the public’s health (Wilkins et. al., 2013; Terry et. al., 2013). The Clinical Translational Science Awards (CTSA)—supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH) under the auspices of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)—aim to provide resources and support needed to strengthen our nation’s clinical and translational research (CTR) enterprise. In 2008, Stanford University was awarded a CTSA from the NIH, establishing Spectrum (Stanford Center for Clinical and Translational Research and Education) and its Community Engagement (CE) Program aimed at building long-standing community-academic research partnerships for translational research in the local area surrounding Stanford University. To date, the CE Pilot Program has funded 38 pilot projects from the 2009-2017 calendar year. The purpose of this study was to understand, through a unique pilot program, the barriers, challenges, and facilitators to community-engaged research targeting health disparities as well as community-academic partnerships. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Investigators conducted a qualitative study of the community engagement pilot program. Previous pilot awardees were recruited via email and phone to participate in a one-hour focus group to discuss their pilot project experience—describing any barriers, challenges, and facilitators to implementing their pilot project. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: The focus group revealed that community engage research through the pilot program was not only appreciated by faculty, but projects were successful, and partnerships developed were sustained after funding. Specifically, the pilot program has seen success in both traditional and capacity building metrics: the initial investment of $652,250.00 to fund 38 projects has led to over $11 million dollars in additional grant funding. In addition, pilot funding has led to peer-reviewed publications, data resources for theses and dissertations, local and national presentations/news articles, programmatic innovation, and community-level impact. Challenges and barriers were mainly related to timing, grant constraints, and university administrative processes. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: The Community Engagement Pilot Program demonstrates an innovative collaborative approach to support community-academic partnerships. This assessment highlights the value and importance of pilot program to increase community engaged research targeting health disparities. Challenges are mainly administrative in nature: pilot awardees mentioned difficulties working on university quarterly timelines, challenges of subcontracting or sharing money with community partners, onerous NIH prior approval process, and limitations to carryover funding. However, pilot grants administered through the program strengthen the capacity to develop larger scale community-based research initiatives.

scholarly journals A Time and a Place for Everything: Aligning Community-Engaged Research to Context

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan K. London ◽  
Krista A. Haapanen ◽  
Ann Backus ◽  
Savannah Mack ◽  
Marti Lindsey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Health Science ◽  
Community Leaders ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Community Engaged Research ◽  
University Of Arizona ◽  
Management Techniques ◽  
Successes And Challenges

Community-engaged research is understood as existing on a continuum from less to more community engagement, defined by participation and decision-making authority. It has been widely assumed that more is better than less engagement. However, we argue that what makes for good community engagement is not simply the extent but the fit or alignment between the intended approach and the various contexts shaping the research projects. This article draws on case studies from three Community Engagement Cores (CECs) of NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Science Core Centers (Harvard University, UC Davis and University of Arizona,) to illustrate the ways in which community engagement approaches have been fit to different contexts and the successes and challenges experienced in each case. We analyze the processes through which the CECs work with researchers and community leaders to develop place-based community engagement approaches and find that different strategies are called for to fit distinct contexts. We find that alignment of the scale and scope of the environmental health issue and related research project, the capacities and resources of the researchers and community leaders, and the influences of the socio-political environment are critical for understanding and designing effective and equitable engagement approaches. These cases demonstrate that the types and degrees of alignment in community-engaged research projects are dynamic and evolve over time. Based on this analysis, we recommend that CBPR scholars and practitioners select a range of project planning and management techniques for designing and implementing their collaborative research approaches and both expect and allow for the dynamic and changing nature of alignment.

scholarly journals Ready or not? Observations from a long-standing community engagement advisory board about investigator competencies for community-engaged research

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 129-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia K. Matthews ◽  
Amparo Castillo ◽  
Emily Anderson ◽  
Marilyn Willis ◽  
Wendy Choure ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Core Competencies ◽  
Educational Programs ◽  
Advisory Board ◽  
Translational Science ◽  
Important Work ◽  
University Of Illinois ◽  
Community Engaged Research ◽  
Competency Based ◽  
The University

Preparing investigators to competently conduct community-engaged research is critical to achieving Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program goals. The purpose of this study is to describe the perspectives of members of a long-standing community engagement advisory board (CEAB) on investigators’ readiness to engage communities and indicators of investigator competence in community-engaged research, in order to suggest core competencies to guide the development of CTSA-sponsored educational programs. Two 90-minute focus groups were conducted with a subset of members of a CEAB (n=19) affiliated with the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. CEAB members identified a range of investigator skills and practices that demonstrate readiness to engage in community-engaged research. Eight competencies were identified that should be incorporated in providing education to enhance the readiness and competency of CTSA-affiliated researchers planning to engage communities in research. CEAB observations demonstrate the necessity of developing competency-based educational programs that prepare clinical and translational scientists at all levels for the important work of community-engaged research.

scholarly journals You Winsome, you lose some: Home and hospitality in the Northern Rivers

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-78
Author(s):  
Grayson Cooke ◽  
Jim Hearn
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Creative Arts ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Community Engaged Research ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Provision Of Services ◽  
Northern Rivers

The Home Project was a three-year collaborative research project, established through a partnership between Northern Rivers Performing Arts (NORPA) and the School of Arts and Social Sciences (SASS) at Southern Cross University (SCU). The Home Project’s objective was to raise awareness of homelessness in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales through creative arts practice and community engagement activities. The broad project aims were to explore questions of home, homelessness and belonging in Northern Rivers’ communities; to address the experiences of individuals affected by homelessness; and, where appropriate, to provide avenues for public dissemination of the stories of individuals who are or have been without a home. This article discusses the activities undertaken in each year of the project, providing a case study of a community engaged research project involving collaboration between university staff and students, a performing arts organisation and a community service provider. We analyse the development of the project over the three years and discuss the emergence of the theme of ‘hospitality’, which came to frame the project in its latter stages as we focused our activities at the Winsome Hotel, a Heritage listed and iconic Australian hotel that now offers low-cost daily lunches and a short-term accommodation service for marginalised men. This focus on the Winsome Hotel and hospitality gave us, as researchers, a new way to think about the provision of services to people without a home.Keywords: Homelessness, hospitality, creative arts practice, community engagement, NORPA, Southern Cross University 

scholarly journals Community-Engaged Research for the Promotion of Healthy Urban Environments: A Case Study of Community Garden Initiative in Shanghai, China

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (21) ◽  
pp. 4145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huaiyun Kou ◽  
Sichu Zhang ◽  
Yuelai Liu
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Community Gardens ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Community Garden ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
University Partnerships ◽  
Community Engaged Research ◽  
Building Activities ◽  
External Interventions

The importance of community gardens in a healthy urban environment has been extensively documented, while the garden building involving communities has not been much explored in fast-developing cities. This study examines community engagement in garden building activities in a rapid urbanization context, aiming to explore the application of community-engaged research methods for the promotion of neighbourhood environments. The Community Garden Initiative consisting of an array of progressive actions is formulated by the research team, featuring a process of increasing involvement of community members and decreasing intensity of external interventions. These activities have been launched based on community-university partnerships in Shanghai since 2014, synchronising with a transformation of urban regeneration paradigm in China where people-oriented approaches are more emphasized. Five actions covering 70 community gardens are analysed through surveys on participants’ attitudes and perceptions towards the activities. The results of the study presented people’s rapid acceptance of participation in public affairs, reflected possible measures to promote public participation, and confirmed the positive impacts of the garden building on the neighbourhood environmental health as well as on the community-building. Taking into account that residents generally lack the consciousness and capacities required to implement actions at the initial stage of community engagement, we proposed in the conclusion to start with external interventions and capacity buildings carried out by professionals as a supplement to the ‘community-driven’ principle of CBPR methods.

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