Organizational readiness to participate in research: Examining the organizational factors of Black Churches that support engagement in research to reduce health disparities

Background: Despite a higher burden of disease, African Americans have historically been underrespresented in health research. Researchers interested in increasing African American participation in research have looked to the Black church to reach this community. Although Black church leadership is integral to such an effort, little is known about which organizational factors are essential for encouraging congregants to participate in health research. Methods: We applied organization science theory to develop a survey to measure the readiness of Black churches to engage in health research. The survey included summaries of two research projects and asked church leaders to rate their church's ability to conduct the activities associated with each. We also assessed church policies and practices that support engagement in research. Data was collected with church leaders from a network of 18 Black churches in North Carolina. Results: The ‘readiness to engage in research' survey was found to have good psychometric properties. The results of the readiness to engage in each type of project will be compared within and across the churches. Churches will be informed of the types of research in which they have the capacity to engage. Conclusion: Knowing churches' readiness to engage in health disparities research can aid researchers in providing technical assistance, tailored recruitment, and intervention activities to improve outcomes when such research is conducted. Further, church leaders can use these measures to monitor interventions and create a “feedback loop” to improve the quality of health promotion activities and policies and practices that support research engagement.