Community & Stakeholder Engagement Core

1. Community & Stakeholder Engagement Core Edith Parker, DR. PH Professor and Head of Community and Behavioral Health and Director, Prevention Research Center for Rural Health Director, Community-Based Research Core February 7, 2014

2. Community Engagement: IOM Definitions Community engagement is the process of working collaboratively with groups of people who are affiliated by geographic proximity, special interests, or similar situations with respect to issues affecting their well-being. In practice, community engagement is a blend of science and art. Community (defined by IOM for this purpose) - “Community” denotes the people who seek and provide health care in community, academic, and private settings, as well as individuals and organizations working in communities to improve the health and well-being of local populations.

3. Community Engagement Core Goals • To facilitate community engaged research at University of Iowa by: • Building and maintaining infrastructure (e.g., bidirectional communication processes, responsive IRB; community-based research networks) to facilitate community-engaged and translational research with providers and communities. • Increasing capacity of UI researchers, students, staff and trainees to engage with communities (defined as health care providers, community groups, advocacy groups, Health Departments • Increasing capacity of communities and providers to engage with UI researchers.

4. Prior Efforts • Successes • Collaborative bi-directional research projects with Iowa Federally Qualified Health Centers. • Partnership with Iowa State University Extension Service to further community engaged research. • New UI IRB processes and procedures to facilitate the regulatory review and approval processes for community-engaged research. • Educational outreach to communities through Science Cafes (co-sponsored with Superfund and Environmental Health Research Centers) and mini-medical schools.

5. Prior Efforts • Obstacles/Challenges • Relatively less community-engaged research than peer institutions at beginning of ICTS and consequently less infrastructure to support it. • Statewide focus makes communication more challenging.

6. Examples of Successful Partnerships Iowa School Nurse Organization Iowa Research Network Iowa Primary Care Association and FQHCs

7. Externally Funded Projects Utilizing ICTS Community-Based Research Networks

8. Future Directions • Continued “match-making” of researchers with existing Practice Based Research Networks and community research networks. • Increased Educational Activities focused on Community-Engaged Research. • Deployment of CRoP (Community Research Partnership) electronic platform to facilitate communication between researchers and community stakeholders throughout the state. • Continued collaboration with IRB on facilitating ease of community-engaged research. • Outreach to new partners, including providers, health department, others involved in public health and health care.

9. Seeking Your Input Are we missing ongoing relations/community research networks we can tap? How can the Community Engagement Core best assist your faculty, departments & programs with community engaged research? How can we better work with your faculty? How can we become better recognized & understood by your faculty?