Reconsidering Community-Engaged Research Through a Syndemic Theoretical Framework: Lessons from COVID-19

Boutin‐Foster, Carla; Hastings, Julia F.; German, Jacquilyn R.; Hites, Lisle; Eng, Eugenia; Turner, Erica; Moore, Pamela; Yaboh, Timineri; Sutton, Victor

doi:10.1353/cpr.2022.0042

Cited by 3 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…3 Intentional steps are needed to support the current generation of community-engaged investigators in cardiovascular research, many of whom have worked with communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 3 Many in this current generation of community-engaged researchers are members of the minoritized groups with whom they work. They not only have been personally affected by their own experiences during the pandemic, but they also have internalized the devastation from lives lost and financial stress experienced in the communities with whom they partner.…”

Section: Frame Of Referencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…They not only have been personally affected by their own experiences during the pandemic, but they also have internalized the devastation from lives lost and financial stress experienced in the communities with whom they partner. 3 If the current cohort of community-engaged investigators is to help bring forward new generations embarking on community-engaged cardiovascular research, they must be provided with adequate research funding and resources to share their knowledge and lessons learned as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The syndemic of cardiometabolic diseases requires an approach that centers community engagement in both the health care setting and in cardiovascular clinical research to identify accessible, affordable, and sustainable interventions to improve population-level cardiometabolic health.…”

Section: Frame Of Referencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ultimately, training built on a syndemic framework would emphasize the multidimensionality and inherent assets of communities that can be leveraged through partnerships to build interventions targeting CVD that are sustainable beyond trial implementation (Figure). 3…”

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confidence: 99%

“…A syndemic is also characterized by diseases in which biologic pathways connect social and psychological factors to clinical outcomes. 3 A syndemic approach to the treatment of obesity, diabetes, and CVD may help to frame potential solutions to improve population-level cardiometabolic health. 4…”

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confidence: 99%

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Centering Patient Voices Through Community Engagement in Cardiovascular Research

Powell‐Wiley

2023

Circulation

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Section: Frame Of Referencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Frame Of Referencementioning

confidence: 99%

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Centering Patient Voices Through Community Engagement in Cardiovascular Research

Powell‐Wiley

2023

Circulation

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“…authors Boutin-Foster et al 10 describe a novel way to conceptualize community-engaged research during a time of heightened threats to health and well-being. The authors, members of a community-engaged working group, use a syndemic framework to explore lessons learned related to community engagement during COVID-19.…”

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confidence: 99%

Advancing COVID-19 Response through Community Participation: Lessons Learned from Community–Academic Research Partnerships for Health

Martínez¹,

McMaughan²,

Strelnick³

2022

Progress in Community Health Partnerships

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ways in which community partnerships advanced public health efforts in the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. COVID-19 disrupted everyday life around the globe. It overwhelmed health care as well as public health systems and immobilized economies. Moreover, and not by chance, COVID-19 amplified long-standing and pervasive racial and class inequities. Indeed, COVID-19 has had devastating impacts worldwide.We also saw communities across the country coalesce to ensure access to information and resources, provide mutual aid, and advocate for representation in local public health decision-making. Community partnerships are critical to public health preparedness, prevention, and intervention. Yet engaging in equitable partnership continues to pose challenges for many. The collection of articles presented in this issue contributes valuable lessons learned and best practices for engaging in meaningful community-academic partnerships designed to advance equitable pandemic response efforts. These practices include novel approaches for remote community engagement, as community-academic and community-public health department partnerships transitioned to virtual outreach and engagement efforts. Meanwhile, partnerships used both critical and asset-based frameworks, focusing work on advancing racial equity. As a result, the collection presents nuanced findings from populations that are all too often overlooked but bore the brunt of COVID-19's harms.Unlike past PCHP special issues, this "online-only," Open Access supplement does not have a foundation or government agency as a sponsor, but rather our editorial board agreed to gather all the accepted COVID-19 manuscripts that have been submitted since the beginning of the pandemic and invest the modest income we generate from the Johns Hopkins University Press from subscriptions and downloads into eliminating the paywall for access to what we have learned from COVID-19. Like other publications regarding COVID-19, we want access to these lessons to be freely available to the public. Providing Open Access is relatively expensive with printing hard copies, especially as the business model even for nonprofit academic publishers has shifted from library subscription income to paid downloads for individual articles. This issue features an even dozen articles that center on the lived experiences of people in communities impacted by COVID-19 and other pressing public health issues. The articles report on outcomes and lessons learned, presenting new frameworks associated with the establishment of community-academic partnerships. Given partnership development is highly relational and predicated on the building of trusting mutual relationships, COVID-19 has meant adaptation. Social distancing, fear, and uncertainty for lay people, scientists, and health professionals alike, posed real challenges, but also amplified the need for a collective approach.Building and maintaining trust and trustworthiness were discussed at all levels of the public health and health care s...

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Conceptualizing COVID-19 syndemics: A scoping review

Bulled,

Singer

2024

Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity

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Background COVID-19’s heavy toll on human health, and its concentration within specific at-risk groups including the socially vulnerable and individuals with comorbidities, has made it the focus of much syndemic discourse. Syndemic theory recognizes that social factors create the conditions that support the clustering of diseases and that these diseases interact in a manner that worsens health outcomes. Syndemics theory has helped to facilitate systems-level approaches to disease as a biosocial phenomenon and guide prevention and treatment efforts. Despite its recognized value, reviews of syndemics literature have noted frequent misuse of the concept limiting its potential in guiding appropriate interventions. Objective To review how the term ‘syndemic’ is defined and applied within peer-reviewed literature in relation to COVID-19. Design A scoping review of definitions within COVID-19 literature published between January 1, 2020 to May 15, 2023 was conducted. Searches took place across six databases: Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, JSTOR, MEDLINE/Pubmed, PsycINFO and Scopus. PRISMA-ScR guidelines were followed. Results Content analysis revealed that COVID-19 has varied clustered configurations of communicable–non-communicable diseases and novel communicable disease interactions. Spatial analysis was presented as a new strategy to evidence syndemic arrangements. However, syndemics continue to be regarded as universal, with continued misunderstanding and misapplication of the concept. Conclusion This review found that current applications of syndemics remain problematic. Recommendations are made on the design of syndemic studies. A syndemic framework offers an opportunity for systems-level thinking that considers the full complexity of human-disease interactions and is useful to inform future pandemic preparations and responses.

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Reconsidering Community-Engaged Research Through a Syndemic Theoretical Framework: Lessons from COVID-19

Abstract: Community-engaged research is a process in which research is conducted in partnership with groups that have a shared interest, groups that are affiliated by geographic proximity, or groups that face similar health and social conditions. 1,2 Community-engaged research has

Cited by 3 publications

References 40 publications

Centering Patient Voices Through Community Engagement in Cardiovascular Research

Centering Patient Voices Through Community Engagement in Cardiovascular Research

Advancing COVID-19 Response through Community Participation: Lessons Learned from Community–Academic Research Partnerships for Health

Conceptualizing COVID-19 syndemics: A scoping review

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