Collaboration and Context in the Design of Community-Engaged Research Training.

Collaboration between academic researchers and community members, clinicians, and organizations is valued at all levels of the program development process in community-engaged health research (CEnR). This descriptive study examined a convenience sample of 30 projects addressing training in CEnR methods and strategies within the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) consortium. Projects were selected from among posters presented at an annual community engagement conference over a 3-year period. Study goals were to learn more about how community participation in the design process affected selection of training topics, how distinct community settings influenced the selection of training formats, and the role of evaluation in preparing training participants to pursue future health research programming. Results indicated (1) a modest increase in training topics that reflected community health priorities as a result of community (as well as academic) participation at the program design stage, (2) a wide range of community-based settings for CEnR training programs, and (3) the majority of respondents conducted evaluations, which led in turn to revisions in the curricula for future training sessions. Practice and research implications are that the collaboration displayed by academic community teams around CEnR training should be traced to see if this participatory practice transfers to the design of health promotion programs. Second, collaborative training design tenets, community formats and settings, and evaluation strategies should be disseminated throughout the CTSA network and beyond. Third, common evaluative metrics and indicators of success for CEnR training programs should be identified across CTSA institutions.

Educating the Next Generation of Undergraduate URM Cancer Scientists: Results and Lessons Learned from a Cancer Research Partnership Scholar Program.

To improve cancer disparities among under-represented minority (URM) populations, better representation of URM individuals in cancer research is needed. The San Diego State University and University of California San Diego Moores Cancer Center Partnership is addressing cancer disparities through an educational program targeting undergraduate URM students. The Partnership provides a paid intensive summer research internship enriched with year-round activities that include educational sessions, a journal club, mentorship, social activities, and poster sessions and presentations. Program evaluation through follow-up surveys, focus groups, and other formal and informal feedback, including advisory and program steering committees, are used to improve the program. Long-term follow-up among scholars (minimum of 10 years) provides data to evaluate the program's long-term impact on scholars' education and career path. Since 2016, 63 URM undergraduate students participated in the scholar program. At the year-2 follow-up (2016 cohort; n = 12), 50% had completed their Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and/or applied to graduate or medical school. Lessons learned during the course of the program led to implementation of changes to provide a better learning experience and increase overall program satisfaction. Updates were made to recruitment timeline, improvements of the recruitment processes, refinement of the program contracts and onboarding meetings, identification of essential program coordinator skills and responsibilities, adjustments to program components, and establishment of a well-mapped and scheduled evaluation plan. The Partnership identified best practices and lessons learned for implementing lab-based internship scholar programs in biomedical and public health fields that could be considered in other programs.

A Promotor-Led Pilot Study to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening in Latinos: The Juntos Contra El Cáncer Program.

Background. Latinos have lower colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates compared to other racial/ethnic groups in the United States, despite an overall increase in CRC screening over the past 10 years. To address this disparity, we implemented a promotor-led intervention to increase CRC screening test adherence in community-based settings, connecting community members with a partnering federally qualified health center. Purpose. To evaluate the Juntos Contra el Cáncer/Together Against Cancer (JUNTOS) intervention, by assessing pre-post changes in (1) CRC screening test adherence and (2) CRC knowledge and perceived barriers to CRC screening. We also assessed the feasibility and acceptability of program activities. Method. JUNTOS was a group-based intervention, delivered by promotores (community health workers), to promote CRC screening test adherence among Latino adults. The intervention consisted of a culturally tailored 2½-hour interactive workshop followed by an appointment scheduling assistance from a promotor. Workshop participants were Latino adults (males and females) aged 50 to 75 years who were not up-to-date with CRC screening guidelines. We conducted interviews before and 6 to 9 months after the workshop to assess program outcomes. Results. Of the 177 participants included, 118 reported completing the CRC screening test (66.7%) by 6 to 9 months postintervention. We observed baseline to 6- to 9-month increase in CRC knowledge and lower perceived barriers to obtaining CRC screening. Furthermore, the intervention was found to be feasible and acceptable. Conclusion. Results suggest that JUNTOS can be feasibly implemented in partnership with a federally qualified health center. The current study supports group-based CRC interventions in community and clinic settings.

Development of a game-based learning tool for applied team science communication in a virtual clinical trial.

Educational tools for application of team science competencies in clinical research are needed. Our interdisciplinary group developed and evaluated acceptability of a virtual world game-based learning tool simulating a multisite clinical trial; performance hinges on effective intrateam communication. Initial implementation with clinical research trainees (n=40) indicates high satisfaction and perceived relevance to team science and research career goals. Game-based learning may play an important role in team science training.

An exploratory study of Clinical and Translational Science Award community-engaged research training programs.

BACKGROUND: The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) institutions are increasing development of training programs in community-engaged research (CEnR) to support translational science. METHODS: This study sampled posters at CTSA national meetings to identify CEnR training approaches, topics, and outcomes. RESULTS: Qualitative analysis of 30 posters revealed training topics and outcomes focused primarily on CEnR capacity building, overcoming barriers, systems change, and sustainability. CONCLUSION: Further research should focus on development and results of CTSA CEnR training program metrics.

Developing the Translational Research Workforce: A Pilot Study of Common Metrics for Evaluating the Clinical and Translational Award KL2 Program.

PURPOSE: This pilot study describes the career development programs (i.e., NIH KL2 awards) across five Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) institutions within the University of California (UC) system, and examines the feasibility of a set of common metrics for evaluating early outcomes. METHODS: A survey of program administrators provided data related to the institutional environment within which each KL2 program was implemented. Application and progress report data yielded a combined data set that characterized KL2 awardees, their initial productivity, and early career outcomes. RESULTS: The pilot project demonstrated the feasibility of aggregating common metrics data across multiple institutions. The data indicated that KL2 awardees were an accomplished set of investigators, both before and after the award period, representing a wide variety of disciplines. Awardees that had completed their trainee period overwhelmingly remained active in translational research conducted within an academic setting. Early indications also suggest high rates of success with obtaining research funding subsequent to the KL2 award. CONCLUSION: This project offers a model for how to collect and analyze common metrics related to the education and training function of the CTSA Consortium. Next steps call for expanding participation to other CTSA sites outside of the University of California system.

Soliciting views of various communities on health research: a prelude to engagement in specific research projects.

BACKGROUND: Members of the public are increasingly engaged in health-service and biomedical research and provide input into the content of research, design and data sharing. As there is variation among different communities on how research is perceived, to engage all sectors of the general public research institutions need to customize their approach. OBJECTIVE: This paper explores how research institutions and community leaders can partner to determine the best ways to engage different sectors of the public in research. DESIGN: Following a literature review, a research institution engaged with four different sectors of the public through their respective representative community-based organizations (CBOs) by interviews with leaders, community member focus groups and a joint project. SETTING: San Diego and Imperial Counties, California, United States of America (USA). CONCLUSION: Before embarking on more specific research projects, investigators can gain valuable insights about different communities' attitudes to, and understanding of, health services and biomedical research by interacting directly with members of the community, collaborating with community leaders, and jointly identifying steps of engagement tailored to the community.

Association of learning styles with research self-efficacy: study of short-term research training program for medical students.

PURPOSE: With a growing need for developing future physician scientists, identifying characteristics of medical students who are likely to benefit from research training programs is important. This study assessed if specific learning styles of medical students, participating in federally funded short-term research training programs, were associated with research self-efficacy, a potential predictor of research career success. METHOD: Seventy-five first-year medical students from 28 medical schools, selected to participate in two competitive NIH-supported summer programs for research training in aging, completed rating scales to evaluate learning styles at baseline, and research self-efficacy before and after training. We examined associations of individual learning styles (visual-verbal, sequential-global, sensing-intuitive, and active-reflective) with students' gender, ranking of medical school, and research self-efficacy. RESULTS: Research self-efficacy improved significantly following the training programs. Students with a verbal learning style reported significantly greater research self-efficacy at baseline, while visual, sequential, and intuitive learners demonstrated significantly greater increases in research self-efficacy from baseline to posttraining. No significant relationships were found between learning styles and students' gender or ranking of their medical school. CONCLUSIONS: Assessments of learning styles may provide useful information to guide future training endeavors aimed at developing the next generation of physician-scientists.

Case study in designing a research fundamentals curriculum for community health workers: a university-community clinic collaboration.

Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly incorporated into research teams. Training them in research methodology and ethics, while relating these themes to a community's characteristics, may help to better integrate these health promotion personnel into research teams. An interactive training course on research fundamentals for CHWs was designed and implemented jointly by a community agency serving a primarily Latino, rural population and an academic health center. A focus group of community members and input from community leaders comprised a community-based participatory research model to create three 3-hour interactive training sessions. The resulting curriculum was interactive and successfully stimulated dialogue between trainees and academic researchers. By choosing course activities that elicited community-specific responses into each session's discussion, researchers learned about the community as much as the training course educated CHWs about research. The approach is readily adaptable, making it useful to other communities where CHWs are part of the health system.