Connecting Community to Research: A Training Program to Increase Community Engagement in Research

Background: The Boston University Clinical & Translational Science Institute (BU CTSI) identified a local need to increase the capacity of members of a diverse inner-city community with no prior knowledge of research to partner with researchers along the research continuum.

Objectives: To design, implement, and evaluate an introductory- level capacity-building training using community pedagogy and providing information about current research and opportunities to partner with local researchers.

Methods: Guided by two advisory boards of community-engaged professionals and patients, the community engagement team of the BU CTSI designed, implemented, and evaluated the Connecting Community to Research (CCR) training program. We targeted existing community groups in Boston interested in partnering with an academic institution to advance the health of their community. Interactive trainings focused on principles of community-engaged research (CEnR), and how individual experiences might influence research. Each session offered real-time opportunities for participants to engage with local researchers on existing research such as joining a local research advisory group or institutional review board. Self-administered surveys captured participant experiences.

Conclusions: Over 1 year, we trained 100 community members and almost all participants felt that the objectives of the training program were met and the information was relevant. More than 50% of the participants took advantage of partnership opportunities with local researchers. A toolkit was designed and disseminated to support others to replicate the program. We demonstrated that an interactive training curriculum designed with a community-engaged pedagogy and supported by opportunities for engagement has the ability to successfully partner community members with academic researchers.