Community Engagement (CE) teams facilitate bi-directional collaboration between research teams and local community members, community based organizations, and other impacted stakeholders. CE is essential for:
- Establishing and maintaining collaborations between researchers, community organizations, clinicians and healthcare systems, public health agencies, policymakers, and other key stakeholders
- Serving as a focal point for organizing and nurturing productive, bi-directional relationships between Core members and communities and stakeholder groups
- Developing research questions and engaging in research/data collection
- Translating relevant research findings into community and systems-level interventions to promote health equity
- Disseminating information and findings to key audiences, including local communities, community-based organizations, policymakers, clinicians and healthcare systems, public health agencies, and other key stakeholders
Each Research Center includes a Community Engagement Core and participates in the national Community Education Working Group (CEWG), convened by the Research Coordinating Center.
"Health disparities are driven by social inequities. Engaging community in the research process will generate a broader perspective and understanding of the social inequities at play and promise to increase the efficacy, relevance and applicability of the interventions that emerge from the research."
Community Engagement Working Group
The Community Engagement Working Group (CEWG), is composed of leaders and relevant stakeholders from each funded center. They meet monthly to advance a common agenda for meaningful community engagement.
Resources
- Malawa Z, Gaarde J, Spellen S. Racism as a Root Cause Approach: A New Framework. Pediatrics. 2021 Jan;147(1):e2020015602. doi: 10.1542/peds.2020-015602. PMID: 33386339.
- Community Engagement Toolkit. Collection of resources for researchers and community members compiled by UCSF research groups.
- Community Engagement evaluation tools:
- Goodman MS, Sanders Thompson VL, Johnson CA, Gennarelli R, Drake BF, Bajwa P, Witherspoon M, Bowen D. Evaluating Community Engagement In Research: Quantitative Measure Development. J Community Psychol. 2017 Jan;45(1):17-32. doi: 10.1002/jcop.21828. Epub 2016 Dec 13. PMID: 29302128; PMCID: PMC5749252.
- Review Criteria and Rating Scale for Community-Based Participatory Research
- Ahmed SM, Palermo AG. Community engagement in research: frameworks for education and peer review. Am J Public Health. 2010 Aug;100(8):1380-7. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.178137. Epub 2010 Jun 17. PMID: 20558798; PMCID: PMC2901283.
- Balls-Berry JE, Acosta-Pérez E. The Use of Community Engaged Research Principles to Improve Health: Community Academic Partnerships for Research. P R Health Sci J. 2017 Jun;36(2):84-85. PMID: 28622404; PMCID: PMC5582944.
- Organizing Committee for Assessing Meaningful Community Engagement in Health & Health Care Programs & Policies. Assessing Meaningful Community Engagement: A Conceptual Model to Advance Health Equity through Transformed Systems for Health. National Academy of Medicine. 2022 February. doi.org/10.31478/202202c.
Stay in Touch
Want to stay up-to-date on community engagement activities? Subscribe to our newsletters and add our upcoming events to your calendar!