Minority Women Research Network: Increased Community and Patient Engagement in Research Symposium

Project Summary Background: To increase community and patient engagement in research (CPER), minority women researchers, community members, and patients need provisions for dynamic engagement (in-person and through research networks) to improve research implementation and dissemination. Proposed Solution: The project team will provide opportunities for minority women researchers, community members, and patients to engage in two workshops and a research symposium on CPER. These activities will foster bidirectional research partnerships between diverse stakeholders. These activities will take place in diverse communities with high rates of health disparities in traditionally under-resourced communities. Objectives: The investigators' aims are to engage diverse stakeholders using CPER as a tool to improve health; increase scientific literacy by building research infrastructure; and develop best practices for disseminating information via CPER. Our long-term objective is to make CPER the standard for all research. Activities: Minority Women Research Network (MWRN), Spirit of Eagles (SOE), Mayo Clinic, Edward Waters College, Morehouse College of Medicine, and other CPER partners will develop CPER curriculum, agendas, and matrices for use in two regional workshops and a national symposium. Two planning meetings will take place prior to each workshop, and there will be an in-person meeting after the second workshop, and three additional meetings to finalize the symposium. Phoenix, Arizona, and Jacksonville, Florida are the locations for the workshops and Atlanta, Georgia for the symposium. Outcomes: The main outcomes are active engagement in CPER between minority women researchers, patients and caregivers, and community through the creation of curriculum and design of facilitated discussions on CPER to increase wellness in under-resourced areas. Proceedings and summaries of these meetings will lead to increased collaboration of diverse research and stakeholder teams to have the capacity and expertise to conduct CPER. Patient and Stakeholder Engagement Plan: The stakeholders for this project are minority women researchers, community members, and patients. MWRN, SOE, and CPER partners will help plan, recruit, and implement the workshops and symposium. A collaborative process ensures that the team uses a bidirectional engagement to design platforms (workshops and symposium) that yield an increase in patient outcomes and addresses community and patient needs. Each partner's role in the execution of these activities involves facilitation during the workshops and symposium, review of program evaluations, and partnering to develop the proceedings and other dissemination materials. The impact of these activities will increase the skills of CPER teams in determining research priorities, scientific literacy, future research collaborations, implementation, and dissemination. Project Collaborators: Mayo Clinic, MWRN, and SOE will lead the efforts for the proposal. The CPER partners are two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Edward Waters College and Morehouse School of Medicine) and the Coalition of Blacks Against Breast Cancer. More on This Project Project Resource: Workshop Proceedings Report Project Resource: Workshop 2 Proceedings