Abstract
BackgroundCommunity engagement may make research more relevant, translatable, and sustainable, hence improving the possibility of reducing health disparities. The purpose of this study was to explore strategies for community engagement adopted by research teams and identify areas for enhancing engagement in future community engaged research.MethodsThe Community Engagement Program of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research hosted a forum to engage researchers and community partners in group discussion to reflect on their diverse past and current experiences in planning, implementing, and evaluating community engagement in health research. A total of 50 researchers, research staff, and community partners participated in five concurrent semi-structured group interviews and a whole group wrap-up session. Group interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using content analysis.ResultsFour themes with eight subthemes were identified. Main themes included: Community engagement is an ongoing and iterative process; Community partner roles must be well-defined and clearly communicated; Mutual trust and transparency are central to community engagement; and Measuring community outcomes is an evolving area. Relevant subthemes were: engaging community partners in various stages of research; mission-driven vs. “checking the box”; breadth and depth of engagement; roles of community partner; recruitment and selection of community partners; building trust; clear communication for transparency; and conflict in community engaged research.ConclusionThe findings highlight the benefits and challenges of community engaged research. Enhanced capacity building for community engagement, including training and communication tools for both community and researcher partners, are needed.
Highlights
Community engagement is defined as the process of meaningfully involving communities affected by a research finding in the research process [1]
To explore the key lessons learned by community engaged research teams, we held five group interview sessions with 50 research investigators, research staff, and community partners
Participants noted that conflict between the researchers and community partners is a familiar part of the community engaged research process
Summary
Community engagement is defined as the process of meaningfully involving communities affected by a research finding in the research process [1]. Community engagement in research is recognized as a key process to improve the way the research is prioritized, translated, and used in a real-life setting, and can reduce health disparities [2,3,4,5]. Community engagement can occur across all stages of research including identifying study topics, planning and designing the study, strengthening recruitment strategies, collecting and analyzing data, and interpreting and disseminating findings. Growing interest in the participation and contributions of community involvement make it an opportune time to examine the key success strategies adopted by research teams and other lessons learned, and to consider the implications for future community engaged health research. The purpose of this study was to explore strategies for community engagement adopted by research teams and identify areas for enhancing engagement in future community engaged research
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