Project ACCCES: A Collaboration to develop Capacity for Community-Engaged research in Springfield

Abstract

Background: Residents of Springfield, Massachusetts experience disproportionately poorer health compared to the rest of the state. Springfield's community of color population (39.5% Hispanic/Latino; 21.6% Black; 2% Asian) experiences high rates of poverty, unemployment, and low educational attainment leading to large health disparities. Objective: The overall objective of the PCORI-funded Project ACCCES is to develop capacity to conduct community engaged research (CEnR) in Springfield that is based on patient and community needs, can be more easily translated, and improves community health. This engagement framework will be applied to development of patient-centered comparative effectiveness research proposals. Methods: In the project's first phase, we conducted focus groups with patients, community organization leaders, and physicians to better understand the most pressing health needs of the community, past research experiences, and important considerations for building community-academic partnerships. We then convened a multi-stakeholder Advisory Board to inform all Project ACCCES activities. In the second phase, we developed and implemented two half-day workshops to give participants the knowledge and tools to conduct CEnR and to begin to build community-academic partnerships in the areas of perinatal/maternal-child health, mental health/substance use, chronic disease/nutrition, and respiratory health. The third phase is currently underway and is focused on convening research partnership action groups that will seek to address Springfield residents' health needs through culturally appropriate interventions. The final phases will entail dissemination of both the process used to develop new collaborations to conduct CEnR in an underserved community and the workshop template, and development of structures to foster sustainability of partnerships.