The achievement of health equity is a formidable task which cannot be obtained without the development of a robust enhancing the recruitment and retention of study participants, disseminating research findings to a broader audience, with the ultimate goal of mitigating health disparities in Puerto Rico. To achieve CEC?s main goal, the following key activities will be conducted: (1) Assess current community-academic partnerships involved at various stages of the translational research spectrum, from biomedical research through clinical practice. A structured planning method will be used to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to expanding translational research at UPR, and will offer recommendations on specific resources and strategies needed to enhance and expand community-academic partnerships over the next five years; (2) Recruit a diverse group of stakeholders to serve on a centralized, RCMI-wide Community Coalition Team (CCT). The CCT will include RCMI investigators and members of government agencies, local health organizations, and community organizations. Work closely with the CCT to encourage members to provide useful advice to investigators who are conducting behavioral and clinical/health services research projects in research areas of high interest to the community, strategies to improve the recruitment and retention of study participants, and methods to disseminate research findings to a variety of audiences; (3) Increase RCMI investigators? ability to understand and incorporate community perspectives in research projects involving minority health and health infrastructure for long-term community engagement. The disparities in socioeconomic status, access to healthcare and health conditions such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases associated with the Puerto Rican and other Hispanic populations are well documented. Thus, the RCMI Community Engagement Core (CEC) of the CCRMHD will focus on developing and implementing a variety of community-engagement strategies designed to increase the number of community-academic collaborations and partnerships; disparities; (4) Evaluate the activities of the CCT and the extent to which the CEC has achieved its goals each year. The RCMI CEC will serve as the focal point for activities that link the University of Puerto Rico and community-based organizations, to increase collaboration between the university and community and improve the translation of research discoveries into practice. We will build upon existing UPR assets, including a robust biomedical research infrastructure, ongoing collaborative efforts in community-based clinical research, and partnerships with other community- engagement cores at UPR. We will also develop training programs and infrastructure to support the development of new community-academic partnerships. We are committed to establishing community trust and engagement to expedite scientific advances that address health disparities and improve the quality of life in our communities.
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