Project Summary
Background: There has been much proactive mobilization of key partners and stakeholders in Minnesota, working together to be responsive to the needs of the Somali immigrant community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet there remain significant gaps in effective methods of community engagement in PCOR/CER.
Proposed Solution to the Problem: There is a need to: identify the community perspectives on novel and effective ways to conduct engagement in the COVID-19 context; share those methods with a wide range of stakeholders and seek their input on proposed methods; and evaluate emerging methods of engagement with real-world COVID-19 PCOR/CER or dissemination activities.
Objectives: The project team’s long-term objective is to build capacity to ensure sustained and effective engagement of Somali immigrant patients in COVID-19-related PCOR/CER. In order to do this, the team has three key objectives:
- Objective 1: Using a multi-pronged approach, engage community members for input on: preferred methods of community engagement to ensure broad reach in the community; views on the priorities for COVID-19-related PCOR/CER topics; and views on capacity building needed to support participation in PCOR/CER projects.
- Objective 2: Disseminate and obtain feedback on novel methods of patient engagement to stakeholders and partner organizations, including healthcare providers, public health entities, and state and governmental agencies.
- Objective 3: Evaluate the reach, engagement, adoption, and implementation of at least three key methods of engagement in relation to PCOR/CER or dissemination activities relating to COVID-19.
Activities:
- Objective 1: 40 community members will conduct outreach with up to 600 Somali community members to seek input on: preferred methods of community engagement to ensure broad reach in the community; views on the priorities for COVID-19-related PCOR/CER topics; and views on capacity building needed to support participation in PCOR/CER projects.
- Objective 2: The team will conduct three focus group meetings with stakeholders to disseminate and obtain feedback on novel methods of patient engagement.
- Objective 3: The team will use a case study approach to evaluate the reach, engagement, adoption, and implementation of at least three key methods of engagement.
Outcomes and Outputs:
- A report of community-member-identified novel engagement strategies, with input from stakeholders
- A report of community-member-identified COVID-19-related research priorities
- An assessment of research capacity building needs to support sustainability
- An evaluation of the use of novel engagement strategies with three COVID-19 PCOR/CER or dissemination case studies.
Patient and Stakeholder Engagement Plan: The team will engage patients, community members, and key stakeholders throughout each stage of this project. The multi-stakeholder community advisory group will provide guidance on the project at every stage. Additionally, the team will conduct engagement activities for each of the project objectives, and in project dissemination.
Project Collaborators: This project is a collaboration between the University of Minnesota and Open Path Resources (subcontract). Additionally, this project is supported by the multi-agency efforts to address COVID-19 concerns relating to Somali communities, and this includes MHealth Fairview, Minneapolis Public Health Department, Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, and Smiley’s Family Medicine Clinic.