Collaborative Community Engagement Research

The RCMI Translational Research Network (RTRN) has been awarded an ARRA Supplemental Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The purpose of this supplement award is to enhance the community engagement initiatives throughout the network’s activities and processes and to facilitate community-based partnerships at the 18 RCMI sites. This project will support the creation of community partnerships and increase the Network’s capacity for incorporating community in all its endeavors.

The RTRN Translational Research Clusters (TRCs) serve to link clinical, biomedical and behavioral scientists with healthcare providers and community organizers to forge inter-institutional partnerships designed to accelerate the discovery of new knowledge and to facilitate the translation of this knowledge from “bench to bedside” (T1) and from “bedside to community” (T2) for personalized, predictive, preventive and participatory medicine. The clusters emphasize diseases that disproportionately affect ethnic minority and marginalized communities, which historically have experienced limited or poor access to healthcare. Community involvement is critical to the researchers working to address health disparities.

This project will make it possible to link community representatives from the 18 RCMIs with investigators across the Network. Therefore in an effort to increase capacity for community engagement in RTRN activities, three RTRN Liaisons1 whose team leadership and combined community-based research experience will facilitate enhanced involvement of community in Network activities. Six community liaisons will be recruited from each of the RCMI centers with medical schools. These six will be responsible for coordinating all activities related to the project’s focus and involving community groups; will build partnerships among the six RCMI’s with medical schools, and conduct outreach to remaining RCMIs without medical schools. The team comprised of the three RTRN liaisons and the six community liaisons will utilize collaborative and communication tools available through the RTRN DTCC to work across geographic and academic boundaries; and, collaborate with the DTCC in the development of multi-media tools to enhance community-partnered participatory research.

Benefits to RTRN Investigators:

  • RTRN investigators will have access to leaders experienced in community-based participatory research to assist in the development and deployment of research initiatives and communications.

  • Greater opportunities to collaborate with health representatives directly involved in the communities who can reinforce and legitimate research initiatives in those communities.

  • Greater opportunity to participate in community-based activities such as focus groups and town hall meetings to promote and share research plans and outcomes as well as recruit participants.

  • Greater opportunity for joint publications and grant applications involving community members.

Impact on Research:

These efforts will engage community members in actively identifying and addressing key health issues or concerns; facilitate the building of trusting relationships between the research community and target population, and enhance the validity, quality and relevance of research by incorporating the knowledge of community stakeholders.

PROJECT CURRENT STATUS