Community Engagement and Outreach Core

ABSTRACT – COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH CORE There is a tremendous need to coordinate disparate activities with a focus on better aligning research with the health needs and public policy priorities identified by the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH), and the broader Rhode Island (RI) community. Too often, interventions tested in traditional research studies and found to be effective do not translate into positive outcomes in practice or cannot be practically applied in clinical and community settings. Addressing the challenges of translating research findings into clinical practice must require the engagement of key stakeholders, community members, health care teams, program managers, and policy-makers, who are integral to the success, sustainability, and scalability of these efforts.3 The goal of the Community Engagement and Outreach core (CEO) is to help ensure that the research undertaken by the Advance-CTR team is relevant, accessible and impactful for the entire state of Rhode Island. Perhaps most importantly, we believe this approach will help ensure that the translational research enterprise ultimately benefits communities that bear a disproportionate share of the disease burden in Rhode Island. Addressing the health of our state requires culturally tailored approaches to integrate participation into the translational research process, and ultimately, to oversee research that responds to the health needs. Our approach will contribute to research that will elevate the health needs and participation of communities and patients in all research activities, integrating community engagement and a culture of reciprocity into all aspects of Advance-CTR, and creating a Community Engaged Practice-based Research Network (CEPBRN). Our activities will be grounded in the philosophy and culture of partnership and reciprocity. This is not a “research method” but a values system that informs and infuses all elements of our research activities and our team culture. Community stakeholders participate in dissemination of study results, including publication and dissemination of study findings to the general public and the communities who stand to benefit from knowledge production. This culture and our commitment to community participation at every stage of the research process will help ensure that our activities are relevant to the Rhode Island community at large.