Community-Engaged Research
Collaborating for a greater impact in the community
Community engagement is a framework that describes collaboration between researchers and community members throughout the research process.
Community-engaged research is conducted in partnership with patients, health systems, community-based organizations and other stakeholder groups. Community partnerships can help researchers design research that has a greater impact on the communities they serve.
At its core, community-engaged research aims to create positive change by addressing real-world problems in collaboration with the communities affected by them. This is achieved through developing partnerships that mobilize resources, influence systems and serve as catalysts for improving policies, programs and practices. Steps can be taken toward these goals by:
- Incorporating lived experience insights from community members into research design, interpretation and dissemination
- Designing research for easy translation to real-world settings
- Improving health communication and reach of interventions
- Building greater trust between researchers and communities
- Reach underserved and under-represented populations.
Community-engaged research goes beyond traditional research methods by prioritizing community involvement, empowerment and mutual learning. It fosters a sense of ownership and agency among community members, leading to more relevant, culturally responsive and sustainable outcomes. Active collaboration and dialogue foster a collective effort where diverse perspectives and knowledge are valued. This model for designing encourages empathy, problem-solving and a critical understanding of social, economic and environmental contexts. Overall, community-engaged research offers researchers a valuable framework for conducting ethical, relevant and impactful research that benefits both the researchers and members of the community.
COMMUNITY-ENGAGED RESEARCH
Types of Engagement Resources
Several types of resources support community-engaged design initiatives. Each plays an important role in facilitating collaboration, providing expertise and fostering meaningful engagement. The Office of Community Outreach and Engagement offers numerous services for researchers across all phases of studies.
Benefits of Community-Engaged Design
Community-engaged research design offers numerous benefits that contribute to creating more inclusive, effective and sustainable health solutions. Benefits include:
Increased Inclusivity
Community-engaged design considers the diverse needs, perspectives and experiences of the community members who will be affected by the research. This leads to more inclusive and accessible designs that meet a broader range of community members’ needs.
Empowerment and Capacity Building:
Engaging the community in the design process empowers community members to have a voice in decisions that directly impact their lives. This fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility, which can lead to greater acceptance, adoption and long-term sustainability of the designed solutions. Fostering active participants in the research process also builds research literacy, advocacy skills and capacity within communities, which can lead to increased self-efficacy and empowerment.
Improved Problem Definition
Community input helps researchers gain a deeper understanding of real problems the community faces. This allows for more accurate problem definition and helps researchers prioritize aspects that are the most relevant and impactful.
Cultural Relevance
Community-engaged design ensures that solutions are culturally sensitive and appropriate for the target population. By incorporating local knowledge, traditions and norms, researchers can create designs that will resonate with the community and are more likely to be embraces and used.
Enhanced Innovation
Collaboration with community members often sparks creativity and innovation. Different perspectives and insights can inspire new ideas, approaches and solutions that may not have been considered through the traditional research design process.
Building Trust and Relationships
Engagement between researchers and the community builds trust, strengthens relationships and fosters a sense of partnership. This trust is essential for successful implementation and ongoing feedback through design iterations.
Social Impact
Community-engaged design can have a positive social impact by addressing social inequality, promoting social cohesion and strengthening the community. It can lead to designs that address potential social issues, improve quality of life and create positive change within communities.
Policy and Practice Implications
Community-engaged research can inform policy development, interventions and clinical practice guidelines. By involving stakeholders in the research process, findings are more likely to be translated into actionable policies and practices that benefit the community.
Long-term sustainability
Building strong relationships and partnerships with the community contributes to the long-term sustainability of research initiatives. It creates a foundation for ongoing collaboration, feedback and engagement, which promotes continuing research efforts that have a positive impact over time.
Overall, community-engaged research offers a holistic approach that not only considers the technical aspects of design, but emphasizes the social, cultural and ethical dimensions. This process promotes more meaningful and impactful outcomes across time for both researchers and community members.
COMMUNITY-ENGAGED Design
Benefits of Community Engaged Design
Enrollment of diverse individuals in clinical research are essential to scientific progress and to advancing health equity through the United States. Diverse enrollment ensures that research includes participants from various demographic background such as race, ethnicity, age, gender, socioeconomic status and geographic location.
Diversity representation is critical for research findings to be applicable and relevant to different communities. Further, diverse enrollment enhances the validity and generalizability of research by allowing researchers to explore how different factors (e.g., cultural beliefs, social determinants of health) might influence health outcomes across different populations. This leads to more robust and applicable conclusions and promotes prevention and reduction of health disparities by connecting community members with services that are needed the most.
Thus, it is especially important to increase diverse representation in clinical trial to promote health equity, increase relevance and impact of research outcomes, and build trusting and collaboration relationships with communities.