A community engagement training program for basic and translational cancer researchers

Area of Science:

• * Cancer Research
• * Patient Engagement
• * Translational Science

Background:

• * Growing recognition of patient engagement's importance in cancer research.
• * Identified gap in formal training for basic and translational researchers in patient engagement.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To develop and evaluate a 1-year patient engagement training program for researchers.
• * To enhance researchers' skills in collaborating with patient advocates.

Main Methods:

• * Virtual delivery of 3 didactic modules: Community Outreach and Engagement, Communication Skills, and Team Science.
• * Longitudinal projects pairing researchers with research advocates for collaborative work (e.g., co-authoring publications, grants).
• * Monthly group meetings and a final presentation at a university cancer center symposium.

Main Results:

• * All participants reported positive impacts on research collaboration abilities.
• * Improvements observed in researcher communication competency, based on self- and advocate-evaluations.
• * High engagement levels reported by patient advocates; pairs produced 4 abstracts and 9 grant proposals within a year.

Conclusions:

• * The training program effectively enhanced researcher-advocate collaboration and communication.
• * The virtual format facilitates scalability across institutions for broader impact.
• * Program modifications based on feedback can optimize future iterations for efficiency and duration.