Evaluation of community-university research partnerships: Community co-investigator involvement in community-engaged research projects

Background:  Since 2010, the University of Minnesota Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s (UMN CTSI) Community Health Collaborative grant program has awarded funding to support community-academic research partnerships.  However, limited program evaluation exists to describe how community investigators engage in the research process and how their engagement influences research. The UMN CTSI conducted an evaluation of 23 funded community-academic partnerships to understand community investigator involvement in the research process. 

Methods:  Evaluators conducted a retrospective evaluation using a mixed method approach. Community and university co-PIs separately completed a survey and participated in a semi-structured interview to describe community involvement in all phases of the research project and the perceived value community perspectives provided.  Survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and triangulated with interview data which were analyzed using content analysis. 

Results:  Preliminary findings reveal the majority of community investigators were involved in either an active or in a consulting role during all stages of the research process.  The majority of community investigators reported active involvement in presenting research findings (100%), recruiting study participants (87%), implementing the intervention (76%), and developing the intervention (67%), with fewer reporting active involvement in choosing research methods (53%), interpreting study findings (47%), and analyzing collected data (40%).  University investigators reported that community investigators added value to the research by providing knowledge of vulnerable populations, feasibility to implement within a community setting, and cultural context.

Conclusions:  These findings contribute to an improved understanding of community-engaged research partnerships by describing how community investigators contribute to and influence research.