Abstract

Purpose

Community engagement has benefits for cancer centers’ work and for its researchers. This study examined the experiences and perceptions of community engagement by members of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (Case CCC) to create and implement a framework to meet the needs of the entire cancer center.

Methods

This study included three phases: 1) Semi-structured interviews with 12 researchers from a basic science program to identify needs and suggestions for the support of community engagement; 2) Preliminary interview results informed the development of a survey of 86 cancer center members’ about their awareness of and readiness to integrate community outreach and engagement into their research; and 3) The Case CCC Office of Community Outreach and Engagement reviewed the results from phases 1 and 2 to develop and then utilize a framework of engagement opportunities.

Results

In the interviews and surveys, cancer center members recognized the importance of community engagement and expressed an interest in participating in COE-organized opportunities for bidirectional engagement. While participation barriers include communication issues, limited awareness of opportunities, and competing priorities, members were open to learning new skills, changing approaches, and utilizing services to facilitate engagement. The framework outlines engagement opportunities ranging from high touch, low reach to low touch, and high reach and was used to develop specific services.

Conclusion

This study identified varying needs around community engagement using an approach aimed at understanding the perspectives of a community of scientists. Implementing the framework enables reaching scientists in different ways and facilitates scientists’ recognition of and engagement with opportunities.

中文翻译：

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建立综合癌症中心双向参与能力的框架

摘要

目的

社区参与对癌症中心的工作及其研究人员都有好处。本研究调查了凯斯综合癌症中心 (Case CCC) 成员的社区参与经验和看法，以创建和实施一个框架来满足整个癌症中心的需求。

方法

这项研究包括三个阶段：1）对基础科学项目的 12 名研究人员进行半结构化访谈，以确定支持社区参与的需求和建议；2) 根据初步访谈结果，对 86 名癌症中心成员进行了一项调查，了解他们对将社区外展和参与纳入其研究的认识和准备情况；3) 案例 CCC 社区外展和参与办公室审查了第一阶段和第二阶段的结果，以制定并利用参与机会框架。

结果

在访谈和调查中，癌症中心成员认识到社区参与的重要性，并表示有兴趣参与 COE 组织的双向参与机会。虽然参与障碍包括沟通问题、机会意识有限和优先事项相互竞争，但成员愿意学习新技能、改变方法和利用服务来促进参与。该框架概述了从高接触、低覆盖范围到低接触和高覆盖范围的参与机会，并用于开发特定服务。

结论

这项研究使用旨在了解科学家社区观点的方法，确定了社区参与的不同需求。实施该框架能够以不同的方式接触科学家，并促进科学家认识和参与机会。