Aligning community-engaged research competencies with online training resources across the Clinical and Translational Science Award Consortium

Abstract

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A compendium of community engagement responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

“…[20][21][22] The reports informing this manuscript indicate that academic institutions have augmented their infrastructure for responding to community issues instead of focusing on individual, isolated research projects. [23][24][25][26][27] Especially now, further transformation is necessary for institutions to develop the capacity to engage communities in all phases of translational science. This aligns with the NCATS Advisory Council Working Group calling for a workforce that is competent in community engagement and collaboration.…”

“It has to be designed in a way that really challenges people’s assumptions”: preparing scholars to build equitable community research partnerships

“…Meaningful, authentic, and equitable community engagement in clinical and translational science is essential to improve the health and wellbeing of communities 47 Our findings are consistent with the literature that highlights the need for training academic researchers on equitable community partnerships 48 . Findings of a systematic review of online CEnR resources from all CTSAs between 2018 and 2019 found that major areas of https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2021.858 domain address across online resources included CEnR methods and knowledge and relationships with communities 49 . Community stakeholders in our study emphasized the importance of having a critical examination of personal biases due to its potential impact on relationships and the collaboration.…”

Community engagement education in academic health centers, colleges, and universities

“…(13) Core competencies should include: 1) social determinants of health and historical injustices; 2) CE principles and community knowledge and relationships; 3) resource sharing and communication; 4) personal traits for successful CE, including cultural humility; 5) elements and value of community-engaged research; 6) program evaluation for CE; and 7) dissemination and advocacy in CE. (11) The importance of sustainability and trustworthiness should be interwoven throughout the curriculum. (2; 26; 41; 42) Some of the existing CE-related educational content(12; 14; 43-45) focus on specific activities or models (e.g., CBPR), (13; 15; 46; 47) and others on service-learning (or critical service-learning), which is the predominant form of pedagogy in academic health institutions.…”

“…However, few published pedagogical frameworks exist to guide CE curriculum development across disciplines. There is also marked heterogeneity across existing content and a lack of a shared approach for CE education [11,23].…”

“…Its increasing recognition is exemplified by the National Institute of Health Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) against COVID-19 disparities that deployed CE, at scale, across 21 states/territory for pandemic-related prevention, care, and research, including addressing mistrust and countering misinformation [8,9]. CE is a core component of the National Cancer Institute-supported comprehensive cancer centers and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program [10,11]. Although areas of emphasis vary across CE initiatives, they collectively seek to enhance collaborations with communities across the translational science continuum, including clinical care delivery and community-based interventions or programs, to realize meaningful and sustainable community impact [12].…”