Community Engagement Core

Tackling health disparities requires a transdisciplinary framework that cuts across scientific and organizational silos to integrate multiple disciplines. Similarly important are strong collaborations between researchers, community- based organizations, healthcare systems, public health agencies, and other stakeholders. Such a collaborative approach helps ensure that relevant, contextually appropriate research is conducted and, importantly, that findings can be translated into long-term sustainable community and system level changes that improve health for all populations. The Community Engagement Core (CEC) of the Southeast Collaborative for Innovative Solutions to Chronic Diseases (the Center) will bring together institutions, faculty and community partners with expertise across a range of disciplines – behavioral, social, genetic, and environmental. To accomplish this, the CEC will pair each academic study team with one local Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)/ FQHC network which will provide community oversight and input to all programmatic aspects. CEC faculty will also facilitate dynamic ongoing process aimed at engaging the research teams and FQHC partners in a more participatory engagement approach. The goal of the Center’s CEC is to nurture productive bi-directional working relationships between the academic and consortium partners aimed at addressing diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and related conditions. The CEC’s role will be to ensure the perspective of such partners, representing African American and Latino communities throughout the Southeast, are integrated into the Center’s priorities and infrastructure by instituting the following specific aims: Specific Aim 1. Establish a Community Advisory Board that will provide guidance and direction on the Center’s overall goals and priorities, provide input regarding strategies to enhance community engagement, selection of social measures, and accelerate implementation, dissemination, and adoption of the Center’s findings. Specific Aim 2. Provide community input into the selection and execution of pilot projects. Specific Aim 3. Foster participatory partnerships between the three large research projects and local FQHCs in developing, adapting and implementing contextually appropriate interventions addressing disparities and having outcomes which can be readily tailored to the FQHC context.