Engaging community and other stakeholders in the research process, also known as community engaged research or CEnR, can make better the way research is planned, performed, and used. Community and other stakeholder engagement in research is an “ongoing and iterative process” and there has been a convergence of principles among participatory research traditions with community-based participatory research on the CEnR continuum. [1]
Nuts and Bolts Training on Community Engaged Research
Previously, the Community and Collaboration Core (CCC) provided an in-person training opportunity called the “Nut-and-Bolts of Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR)” that covered the foundational principles of CBPR and community-engaged research (CEnR) for both academic and community researchers. However, shifting educational and accessibility needs prompted the CCC to identify readily available online courses on CEnR.
Relevant trainings were identified from a national list of 15 institutions with open access resources. [2] From that list, the three resources structured as video(s) or a course were selected for review. These trainings were created by the University of Southern California, University of Michigan, and University of North Carolina. Each was carefully reviewed by a panel of four reviewers, including academic and community partners with a range of CEnR experience.
Our reviewers recommend all three trainings, recognizing that the needs of individual learners vary. Summary feedback on each course is provided below. Note, the information provided by our reviewers is not intended to be prescriptive but may help guide you to choose a course that is right for your needs.
“Community Engagement” by the University of Southern California Clinical Translational Science Institute and its partners
Our review—A nice overview of the content, particularly for those who are new to CEnR
Considerations:
- Average time to complete: 2 hours (no registration required)
- No certificate available
- May be better suited for academics than for community members
“Community-Based Participatory Research: A Partnership Approach for Public Health” by the Detroit Urban Research Center, University of Michigan (site is maintained and updated by the Region V Public Health Training Center)
Our review—A good in-depth exploration of CEnR
- Average time to complete: 6 hours (registration required)
- A paid version with a certificate is available if you need one
- Good for beginners but also for those with some experience
- May be good to take this course with a group as the content could easily foster discussion
- May need a CEnR glossary if you take this as a beginner
“Research 101 Online Training Series" by the Community and Stakeholder Engagement Program at the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Our review—Good refresher training or to learn more about a single topic in CEnR.
- Average time to complete: 5 hours* (no registration required)
- No certificate available
- May be better suited for those with some CEnR experience
- Easy to watch a specific lesson as contents are covered in individual videos
*Note, the CCC review only included the following modules: Communicating Health Information, Evidence-Based Interventions, Introduction to Basic Research, Introduction to Clinical Trials, Introduction to Program Evaluation, Introduction to Research Methods, Participatory Protections, and Participatory Research Approaches. Other modules that are also part of the course include: Database Sources, Presenting Data Professionally, Research 101, Research 201, and What is Translational Research? These were omitted from the review because they were beyond the scope of the JHU ICTR’s Nuts-and-Bolts of CBPR course.
Glossaries
Links to relevant CEnR glossaries are provided below to facilitate greater accessibility to those less familiar with certain terms used in association with CEnR.
Oregon Health & Science University Community Engagement Glossary
Duke University A Researcher’s Guide to Community Engaged Research: Glossary of Terms
Disclaimer: These glossaries have not been reviewed by our partners. The content and links are not controlled by the CCC, and the CCC cannot guarantee that the glossaries will be available on the provided link. However, we will do our best to keep the links updated.
[1] Han HR, Xu A, Mendez KJW, et al. Exploring community engaged research experiences and preferences: a multi-level qualitative investigation. Res Involv Engagem. 2021;7(1):19. Published 2021 Mar 30. doi:10.1186/s40900-021-00261-6
[2] Piasecki, R. J., Quarles, E. D., Bahouth, M. N., Nandi, A., Bilheimer, A.,
Carter-Edwards, L., & Dennison-Himmelfarb, C. R. (2021). Aligning
community-engaged research competencies with online training resources across
the Clinical and Translational Science Award Consortium. Journal of Clinical
and Translational Science, 5(1), e45. http://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2020.538
