Community Engagement and Outreach Core

The Community Engagement and Outreach (CEO) Core of the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WVCTSI) brings patients, providers, and community members together, to ensure that the Institute’s research agenda reflects the health priorities of West Virginia communities, and that study findings and recommendations inform practical, sustainable, and scalable strategies to promote health. The CEO Core has developed a critically important statewide infrastructure in West Virginia (WV), providing a platform for engaging communities, providers, and patients to participate as comprehensive research partners. The CEO Core Aims are designed to synergistically address improving health outcomes in WV and strengthening the WV research pipeline. The CEO Core is well-positioned to build upon its existing operations and resources to provide innovative services that increase community access to and participation through cutting-edge science. We will accomplish these Aims by establishing the first Implementation Science Center (ISC) in WV (Aim 1). The ISC is where academicians, researchers, healthcare providers, and community members receive the services and expertise needed to expand ideas into fundable implementation projects. Aim 1 success will result in the recruitment of an implementation scientist and ability of the CEO Core to provide implementation science technical assistance. For Aim 2, the CEO Core will engage WV populations in research through three broad categories: 1) increased access to evidence-based interventions and community-based participatory research through community forums, 2) a focus on experiential learning, and 3) developmental support for a mobile clinical trials unit to increase access for rural populations through a partnership with the Clinical Research Resources & Facilities (CRRF) Core. Aim 3 activities will focus on the dissemination of research findings to address the disconnect between scientific discovery and community implementation of evidence-based practices in rural areas. This will be accomplished by: 1) improving rural community clinic dissemination by hosting 1-2 Community ECHO (Extension for Community Health Outcomes) sessions per year; 2) improving community dissemination through the development of a CEO dissemination plan; and 3) assisting early-stage and community-based investigators by partnering with the Professional Development Core to provide trainings to assist investigators in developing specific project plans. Successful completion of the aforementioned specific aims will increase the speed of translation and uptake of research findings to the community.