UC Davis Health
Clinical and Translational Science Center

Community and Collaborator Engagement Resources for Engaging Communities in Research | UC Davis CTSC

Resources for Engaging Communities in Research

  • The Partnership Trust Tool - CDC (PDF) is designed to engage academic, community and public health practice partners in a dialogue about trust and develop strategies for enhancing trust.
  • Toolkit for Developing Community Partnerships
    The Southern California CTSI supports community-engaged research that brings researchers, clinicians and the community together to share their knowledge, skills and resources with a common goal of improving the health of Los Angeles communities. This toolkit is intended to be a resource for researchers, health care providers and the community who are interested in conducting community-engaged research. This community partnership toolkit outlines the process and approach needed during every phase of a project (e.g. relationship building, proposal development, project execution and dissemination).
  • Tips and Tricks for Successful Research Recruitment
    A toolkit for a community-based approach: whether you are conducting a traditional clinical trial or a trial in the community, there are common strategies you should consider when recruiting participants for research. This toolkit introduces ideas on how to prepare early in the research process in order to increase the probability of meeting your participant recruitment goals. Subsequently, it will provide specific recommendations for large clinical trials, and the use of social media as well and community-based research. It will also address recruitment challenges and keys to high retention. This toolkit aims to develop greater capacity and success in research participant recruitment, particularly in the recruitment of underrepresented populations such as ethnic minorities.
  • Community Advisory Board Toolkit
    Resource for integrating community voices into a research study: more and more, grant proposals are requesting researchers to ensure that they have worked with or plan to integrate the community into their research proposal. One approach to this is to develop a community advisory board (CAB) who can provide feedback into all aspects of your research study including developing research questions:
    • developing recruitment plans;
    • reviewing study assessments or procedures;
    • discussing ethical considerations around your research;
    • providing different perspectives into the data interpretation; and/or
    • considering non-traditional dissemination methods.

This toolkit is intended to assist researchers in navigating the processes of developing and establishing a community advisory board  (CAB) for their research studies. Practical tips and step-by-step guidelines are provided.

  • Healthy People Environmental Health - Environmental health consists of preventing or controlling disease, injury, and disability related to the interactions between people and their environment. The Healthy People 2020 Environmental Health objectives focus on six themes, each of which highlights an element of environmental health. Creating health-promoting environments is complex and relies on continuing research to understand more fully the effects of exposure to environmental hazards on people’s health.
  • The PHI mission is to generate and promote research, leadership and partnerships to build capacity for strong public health policy, programs, systems and practices, particularly in California, but also nationally and world-wide. Supported by a group of funders, PHI offers technical expertise on a broad range of environmental health issues.
  • The membership of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) include the 2,800 local health departments across the United States. NACCHO’s mission is to be a leader, partner, catalyst, and voice for local health departments in order to ensure the conditions that promote health, combat disease, and improve the quality and length of all lives. NACCHO developed the Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health (PACE EH), a methodology to guide local communities in identifying and addressing environmental health priorities. NACCHO also has e-learning modules on community environmental health assessment.
  • APHA champions the health of all people and all communities. They speak out about public health issues and policies backed by science. They publish a practical guide book which is a translation of a six-part webinar series hosted by APLA and CDC.

Assistance about community engagement strategies and dissemination ideas at UC Davis

The Community and Collaborator Engagement (CCE) program offers a variety of services to support the effective integration of patients and community experts into health research as study advisors, patients, and collaborators.

  • Individual consultations: CCE staff can advise researchers at any stage of the research process, from proposal planning to implementation and dissemination of findings, on the design of community engagement plans, patient and public advisory boards, outreach strategies, and data access, security and preparation. Consultations are available during regular office hours or by appointment and are free of charge to university researchers and the public.
  • Liaising with community stakeholders: on behalf of researchers, CCE brings community experts and organizational representatives to the table to contribute their expertise and insights on research questions, study implementation, and outreach plans. These sessions often take the form of specialized, community-facilitated focus groups, based on a developed at Vanderbilt University and widely used nationally. CCE staff also broker connections to trusted partners, guide environmental scans of study areas, and orient research teams to local research contexts.
  • Trainings: CCE staff and faculty develop and deliver training designed to build the capacity of research teams and the public to engage in productive dialogue, collaboration, and participation in health research. We do this through conventional lectures and presentations in graduate, post-doctoral, and vocational training programs, as well as through public science academies, mini-medical schools, and public events that integrate the arts, sciences, and storytelling into powerful lessons in the workings of science.

What kind of help can I expect from CCE?

The CCE Program serves as a bridge between investigators and community stakeholders. Consultations are an opportunity to consult with social science, informatics, and public health specialists in a friendly, informal setting on approaches, methods and resources available to study teams designed to support engaging the public in research––as patients, advisors, or collaborators, and at all stages of the research process. CCE supports researchers to:

  • Develop partnerships for research
    • Form an effective partnership with stakeholders around your healthcare research interest
  • Design a community-engaged study
    • Integrate the lived experience and skill of community members into the design or implementation of a research project
  • Build skills in community-engaged research methods
  • Understand the health limitations and possibilities of different data sources

How can a CCE consultation enhance my proposal?

Researchers increasingly are called upon to address, engage and involve communities. We advise the study team on how to:

  • Bring stakeholder perspectives into the development of a research question
  • Adopt effective recruitment and retention strategies for adolescent and young adults, older adults, and other populations
  • Identify appropriate data collection tools and approaches
  • Prepare proposal sections related to stakeholder engagement plans and partnerships
  • Disseminate findings to communities

How much does this service cost?

CCE program staff support researchers free of charge.