Survey of community engagement in NIH-funded research

Community engagement is an innovative and required component for Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). However, the extent of community engagement in NIH-funded research has not been previously examined. This study assessed baseline prevalence of community engagement activities among NIH-funded studies at a large Midwestern university with a CTSA. An online survey was e-mailed to principal investigators of recent NIH-funded studies (N = 480). Investigators were asked to identify what types of community engagement activities had occurred for each study. Responses were received for 40.4% (194/480) of studies. Overall, 42.6% reported any community engagement activities. More collaborative types of engagement (e.g., community advisory board) were less common than activities requiring less engagement (e.g., sharing study results with community members). Studies with more collaborative community engagement were less likely to be described as basic or preclinical research compared to all other studies. Given NIH's inclusive call for community engagement in research, relatively few NIH-funded studies reported community engagement activities, although this study used a broad definition of community and a wide range of types of engagement. These findings may be used to inform the goals of CTSA community engagement programs.