Community-Driven Research Days
Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute believes that community-engaged research produces better health outcomes by encouraging collaboration between researchers and community partners throughout the research process. Community-engaged research prioritizes community needs by directly involving those who have a stake in improving health and providing opportunities to build trust within community-academic partnerships. Our community engagement team works to:
Connect communities and research teams in partnerships that will translate research into policy and practice.
Ensure communities can participate as full partners throughout the research lifecycle, are consulted for their research priorities, respected, valued and rewarded for collaborative activities.
Foster successful university/community partnerships.
Nurture opportunities for scientific discoveries.
Develop community health coalitions.
Community-Driven Research Days (CDRDs), cultivate collaborations across diverse partners with the overall goal of addressing health needs within a specific county. Community organization leaders and other partners lead discussions around important community health issues with researchers and clinicians, working together towards innovative solutions. By identifying the community’s strengths and challenges, researchers are better positioned to engage in a research agenda that is reflective of health needs and places community partners at the center of the solution. While typically a one-day event, the planning and needs assessment performed within the community leading up to the CDRD is vital to authentic and impactful partnerships.
Check back soon for the launch of CTSI's CDRD researcher toolkit.
