Community Engagement Program
The skills and wisdom of both academic researchers and community stakeholders are necessary if research is to have an impact on public health. To have more evidence-based practice, we need more practice-based evidence.
The Community Engagement (CE) program's mission is to bridge academic research and community practice to support relevant research that can have an impact on public health. We do this by providing consultation, linkage services, resources, and training to all of the following public health stakeholders: research partners who envision, design, conduct, and disseminate health research; community clinicians; community agency staff; UCSF staff, students, fellows, and faculty; community advocates; K-12 school health professionals; researchers and clinicians at integrated medical settings, and policymakers.
The CE program (through CE staff, associated faculty and community experts) supports partnerships between clinical or health service sites with academics who can learn about community priorities, assets, and challenges. CE supports the development of relevant research by bringing community clinician, agency, institution, and stakeholders into the design of research questions and protocols. And CE supports the translation of research to practice by working with researchers who want to bring an evaluated program to scale and assess implementation and dissemination. Our goal is to mobilize the necessary partners to conduct the best research that can make a difference in generalizable settings among diverse populations.
Our goal is to increase:
- Community participation in all stages of research;
- Research that is relevant to community needs; and
- Awareness and successful uptake of useful research findings in diverse community settings.