Engaging the Community in the Dissemination, Implementation, and Improvement of Health‐Related Research

Abstract

To help maximize the real-world applicability of available interventions in clinical and community healthcare practice, there has been greater emphasis over the last two decades on engaging local communities in health-related research. While there have been numerous successful community-academic partnered collaborations, there continues to be a need to articulate the common barriers experienced during the evolution of these partnerships, and to provide a roadmap for best practices that engage health care providers, patients, families, caregivers, community leaders, healthcare systems, public agencies and academic medical centers. To this end, this article presents a summary of a forum discussion from the 2014 Southern California Dissemination, Implementation and Improvement (DII) Science Symposium, sponsored by the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Clinical Translational Science Institute (CTSI), University of Southern California (USC) CTSI, and Kaiser Permanente. During this forum, a diverse group of individuals representing multiple constituencies identified four key barriers to success in community-partnered participatory research (CPPR) and discussed consensus recommendations to enhance the development, implementation, and dissemination of community health-related research. In addition, this group identified several ways in which the over 60 NIH funded Clinical and Translational Science Institutes across the country could engage communities and researchers to advance DII science.

Dissemination Using Infographic Reports Depicting Program Impact of a Community-Based Research Program: eB4CAST in iCook 4-H

“…6 Traditional methods of research communication often are ineffective for community dissemination. 10 However, few evidence-based tools exist to help researchers communicate their work effectively to community partners. 10 As a result, many researchers may struggle to make their research accessible and easily understood by stakeholders and community members.…”

“…10 However, few evidence-based tools exist to help researchers communicate their work effectively to community partners. 10 As a result, many researchers may struggle to make their research accessible and easily understood by stakeholders and community members. Passive dissemination strategies are generally ineffective, but intervention strategies using interactive educational meetings and educational outreach are the most effective strategies for behavior change and potentially a means for successful dissemination.…”

Terminate lung cancer (TLC) study—A mixed-methods population approach to increase lung cancer screening awareness and low-dose computed tomography in Eastern Kentucky

“…Our study adds to existing literature on best practices and effectiveness of educational outreach (e.g., Greenhalgh et al 23 and the AHRQ 24 ) among strategies that facilitate the knowledge translation process; 25 and perhaps more importantly, addresses the recognized academic-community divide that often limits the reach and/or meaningfulness of the education provided to the community. 26 …”

La divulgación científica en el campo de la salud pública. La experiencia del Instituto Nacional de Salud

“…La tercera motivación es lograr el compromiso público con las actividades y beneficios de la investigación científica, especialmente, con la investigación en salud. El logro de dicho compromiso tiene implicancias directas en la salud pública, pues permite una mayor confianza de la población en los científicos y sus investigaciones; y facilita la implementación de las políticas públicas, a nivel de los servicios que brindan los establecimientos de salud en materia de promoción, prevención y control de daños en salud pública (4,13) .…”