Community-Engaged Research

Community-engaged research transforms how research is conducted, moving from research done on the community to research done with the community. When researchers and community members co-create a project together, the end product reflects, as PCORI Program Officer Courtney Clyatt stated, "research guided by patients, caregivers and the broader healthcare community. "This practice serves to address issues of importance to both community and researchers alike and begins first by identifying a problem together. Next, the partnership works to implement the project and finally, they create a dissemination plan for writing up and sharing the results not just in academic journals, but to community sources as well. Each step, planning, conducting/implementing, and disseminating (writing and sharing of findings) of the process is a collaboration. Community engaged research results in interventions that are relevant to the community needs, which means that they are more likely to be adopted and used.