Community Health Workers (CHWs) and Promotoras, embedded leaders within underserved communities, have an important role supporting community-engaged research and are increasingly being incorporated into research teams for their ability to reduce barriers in translation, particularly regarding research on health disparities. In fact, there is evidence that CHWs and Promotoras led health interventions that have helped people better manage their health in many ways. For instance, these interventions have helped people better manage their chronic conditions and engage in healthy behaviors such as cancer screenings.

Man with a tablet speaking to a woman

However, problems with CHWs understanding and applying research best practices exist. Training for CHWs in research best practices is variable, not tailored to the research role of CHWs, and not designed to train individuals who work in culturally or linguistically diverse communities.

The Community Health Worker Research Best Practices Training focuses on providing culturally and linguistically sensitive training to help improve the translation of clinical research in underserved communities. With this program, CHWs and Promotoras will learn about the basics of research and become familiar with how they can contribute to the quality of research done in partnership with communities. Lessons include information on how to recruit community members into research studies who are appropriate for the research, communicate effectively about research, and participate in protecting the privacy and confidentiality of research participants. The course is designed for CHWs and Promotoras, community partners, and other research study team members who are conducting social and behavioral research studies and clinical trials in communities.

This project is a partnership between Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) Program at the University of Michigan, University of Florida, and University of California – Davis, three CTSA hubs with a network of community partners in diverse areas with large numbers of Hispanic and African American individuals.  

 

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