Enhancing community research engagement: A national survey of factors and challenges associated with Community Health Centers' research capacity

Federally-Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are community-directed organizations largely serving underserved and under-researched populations. Little is known about the state of research at FQHCs. Three community-academic partnerships collaborated in developing and fielding the first web-based survey assessing FQHCs' roles in research, their research capacity, and their research needs. These partnerships included 1) the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Children's National Medical Center and the George Washington University and the National Association of Community Health Centers (CTSI-CN), 2) South Carolina Primary Health Care Association and the University of South Carolina, 3) and the Community Health Applied Research Network.

We surveyed over 1,000 FQHCs with over one-third responding (N=367). Fifty-three percent of respondents participate in research, mostly in partnership with external researchers (78%). Their research roles vary, including participant recruitment (74%), data collection (65%), and developing the research project (29%). Most commonly reported barriers to engaging in research include lack of staff time (87%) and funding opportunities (72%), concern over lost productivity (81%), and assistance in conducting research (72%). These results demonstrate that FQHCs are interested in participating in research but face barriers centering around access to major funding sources and internal capacity. Most request training in finding and capitalizing on funding opportunities (87%) and grant and proposal writing (59%). Survey results will be used to identify factors that contribute to FQHC research engagement and capacity for training needs. Partnerships with external researchers can also help overcome these barriers only if they build capacity for community-engaged research for both communities and academics.