219 Engagement as a Spectrum: Co-Developing and Implementing a Training Series to Enhance Researcher Capacity for Engaging Community and Patient Partners

Abstract

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Community-based participatory research is a “gold standard” methodology, yet many researchers lack the experience or resources to implement this approach. To make engagement more accessible, we developed and implemented a 3-part training series highlighting engagement as a spectrum with many options to meaningfully engage partners. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Staff at UNC-Chapel Hill’s CTSA and Cancer Center collaborated with patient and community partners to co-develop training content, structure, and delivery. Sessions were free and open to the public and covered key components of research engagement and its benefits, debunked common myths and misconceptions about engagement, outlined specific methods along the spectrum of engagement (from low to high touch), and described nuances of building and maintaining partnerships. Partners determined how to best incorporate their perspectives, developed content (including videos, audio clips, and quotes), and co-presented with UNC staff. Evaluations were collected after each session and feedback was incorporated into future iterations. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: 194 individuals from over 20 institutions have participated in the training. Of all survey respondents to date (n=74), 93% were very or extremely satisfied, 77% felt the training was very or extremely relevant to their work, and 76% were very or extremely likely to use information learned in the next year. Most helpful parts of the training were differentiating research engagement from participation; explaining engagement as a spectrum with varied methodologies; providing tools and resources to implement different approaches; and hearing directly from community co-presenters about their experiences engaging in research. Based on feedback, we created a workshop for researchers to develop engagement plans and an additional training for partners to build capacity and knowledge about engaging in research. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Engaging partners who are impacted by research can be instrumental to the success of a study. This training can help researchers identify engagement approaches that align with their goals, experience, and resources, as well as the interests and capacity of potential partners, and can serve as a model for those interested in training co-development.