Defining and Measuring Community Engagement and Community-Engaged Research: Clinical and Translational Science Institutional Practices

Purpose of This Study

To help the community understand how academic health science centers with clinical and translational science awards:

• • Define and engage communities across the broad spectrum of translational research steps involved in developing new clinical therapies;

• • Identify the conditions associated with the success of community–academic research partnerships;

• • Develop metrics that will contribute to the identification of successful partnerships and to the management of those community health partnerships; and

• • Share recommendations for advancing community-academic partnerships and the science of community engagement.

Problem Addressed by this Study

A lack of consensus regarding

• • Definitions of community engagement and community engaged research; and

• • Identification of metrics for assessing the contributions of community-academic research partnerships.

Findings

Institutions with Academic Health Centers and Clinical and Translational Science awards demonstrate

• • Shared characteristics in their definitions of community engagement, although there are major differences in how the community is conceptualized;

• • Involvement of similar stakeholders, including representation from community clinicians, health department officials and community faith-based organizations more common with industry representation less so;

• • Connections between their clinical and translational science program and their academic health science center goals and activities;

• • That institutions considered service programs more important than research projects;

• • Data on trust are not often collected or assessed;

• • Four of five Clinical and Translational Science (CTSA) institutions maintain one or more community advisory boards; and

• • CTSA institutions have not developed a systematic approach to evaluating community advisory board contributions.

Who Should Care Most?

Individuals from communities and academic institutions who

• • Are involved in or who may become involved in research,

• • Believe that research can provide benefit through both capacity building and improved clinical outcomes,

• • Are partners of translational science programs, or

• • Are individuals interested in improving health in their community.

Recommendations for Action

Members of communities working with CTSA institutions and academic health centers who are involved or want to become involved in partnerships and research should

• • Build an infrastructure that takes account of local conditions and opportunities,

• • Refine and rely on measures of trust and synergy as key metrics for community engagement and community-engaged research,

• • Explore trust and synergy as metrics appropriate to developing a common infrastructure, and

• • Seek additional resources to support the systematic evaluation of community academic research partnerships.