Events, trainings and workshops
Communicating with Community Partners to Advance Health Equity: Guidance for Academic Faculty & Staff
July 25, 2024
Academics often use jargon and scientific communication styles that can impede collaboration with community members outside of their disciplines. Effective communication is essential for fostering strong, sustainable community-academic partnerships that advance health equity. This workshop provides academic faculty and staff with practical guidance on how to engage with community partners through various communication channels, including emails, phone calls, direct conversations, and more. Learn how to build meaningful, authentic relationships and enhance your collaboration skills.
Join Wayne State University's Center for Health Equity and Community Knowledge in Urban Populations (CHECK-UP) virtually for Communicating with Community Partners to Advance Health Equity: Guidance for Academic Faculty & Staff. This workshop is led by Rodlescia Sneed, PhD, MPH, Institute of Gerontology & Department of Psychology; Sarah Clark, MA, PhD Candidate, Department of Psychology; and Kayla Habermehl, Communications Specialist, Institute of Gerontology. Resources from the workshop can be found here.
2023 CHECK-UP Community-Engaged Research Workshop Series:
Freedom Dreaming for Health Equity: Building Upon the Black Radical Imagination
November 30, 2023
Hybrid: Fisher Building 3011 W Grand Blvd, Detroit, MI 48202
Moderated by Chera Reid, PhD
Panelists included:
Kim Sherobbi, Founder of Birwood House
Kevin "Coach Kellogg" Jones, Founder of Jonesin for a Change, Co-Founder Freedom Dreams
Myrtle Thompson-Curtis, Co-Founder of Feedom Freedom Growers
Ethics & Challenges in Community-Academic Partnerships
November 2, 2023
Hybrid: Detroit Premier Academy; 7781 Asbury Park, Detroit, MI 48228
Science funding agencies increasingly call for applications that demonstrate participatory, action, and community-engaged research approaches, though the issues and challenges of doing the work are underreported. Insight is needed to understand the unique challenges scholars, practitioners, and community stakeholders experience when engaging in research and strategies that may be employed to overcome the issues. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together and amplify the voices of experienced academic and community experts who will discuss the needs and challenges of collaborating in research and strategies and support they rely on to be able to foster meaningful and authentic partnerships that lead to actionable outcomes.
Panelists include:
Kenyetta A. Cole, MHI, National Council of Negro Women, Inc.- Detroit Section
Jamie Mitchell, PhD, MSW, School of Social Work, University of Michigan
Maha Albdour, PhD, RN, APHN-BC, College of Nursing, Wayne State University
Moderated by:
Carrie Leach, PhD, MPA, Institute of Gerontology, CURES, CHECK-UP, Wayne State University
Community Health Worker Career Pathways: Opportunities for Community-Based Organizations
October 4, 2023
Hybrid: The Stoudamire, Eastside Community Network, 4401 Conner St. Detroit, MI 48215
Community health workers (CHW) are positioned in a unique role as liaisons between the community they serve and health care systems. With Medicaid reimbursement available for CHW services starting in October 2023, community-based organizations have an opportunity to utilize CHWs within their clientele. This panel-led discussion brings together experts in the CHW space to discuss the future of CHW employment opportunities.
Panelists include:
Shannon Lijewski, Everyday Life Consulting
Gary Ringer, Eco-Environmental Solutions
Adrienne Bulger, HOPE Village Revitalization
Moderated by:
Lisa Braddix, Southeastern Michigan Health Association
Leveraging Science for Action and Advocacy
June 21, 2023
Hybrid: General Baker Institute; 15798 Livernois, Detroit, MI 48238
Scientists and policy makers face society's most complex and challenging issues. This workshop will offer guidelines and best practices for enhancing interactions and dialogue between researchers and decision makers as well as community stakeholders who play a key role in influencing policy.
Along with aligning scientific research with constituent concerns, the presentation and dissemination of that information to policy makers, who are key stakeholders in creating a healthier nation, plays a role in ensuring that decisions are evidence informed. These goals can be achieved through collaboration and consultation with community, communication, outreach, and public relations experts who have a stake in bending the health equity arc toward social justice.
Panelists include:
Stephanie Chang, MPP/MSW
State of Michigan Senator
Winona Bynum, RDN
Executive Director, Detroit Food Policy Council
Jametta Lilly
CEO, Detroit Parent Network
Matt Stiffler, PhD
Director, Center for Arab Narratives
Katie Dwyer, PhD
President, Science Policy Network- Detroit
Moderators:
Hilary Marusek, PhD
Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience, School of Medicine, WSU
Carrie Leach, PhD, MPA
Institute of Gerontology, CURES, & CHECK-UP, WSU
Funding and Sustaining Community-Academic Partnerships
May 18, 2023
Hybrid: Fisher Building Conference Room; 3011 W Grand Blvd, Detroit, MI 48202
Grant funding is vital for establishing a foundation for community-engaged research. This workshop will provide an opportunity for community stakeholders and academic faculty, staff, and clinicians to connect with experienced researchers and community stakeholders who can offer insight about how to find and secure grants that have a CEnR component. This is the second of a series of four workshops offered in 2023.
Panelists include:
Crystal L. Barksdale, PhD, MPH
Program Director, Division of Community Health & Population Science, National Institute on Minority Health & Health Disparities
Katie Brisson, MA
Vice President of Program, Community Foundation of Southeastern Michigan
Courtney Clyatt, MA, MPH
Senior Program Officer, Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards Program
Laurie Solotorow, BS
Director, Nurtition & Health Lifestyles, Michigan Health Endowment Fund
Moderators:
Danielle Hilliker, MSM
Executive Director & CEO, Southeastern Michigan Health Association
Susan Miller, MA
Director of Research Philanthropy, Office of Development & Alumni Affairs, WSU
Processes and Practices for Cultivating Meaningful Community-Academic Partnerships: From Concept to Action
April 27, 2023
Hybrid: Fellowship Chapel; 7707 Outer Dr W, Detroit, MI 48235
Cultivating community and academic partnerships can be accelerated by fostering meaningful dialogue and finding common ground in the earliest stages of partnerships. To foster such connections, this workshop will offer strategies and provide tools for researchers and community stakeholders, so they are better prepared to collaborate equitably and interact effectively. Topics will include considerations in selecting a community engagement approach, strategies to identify and engage potential community partners, best practices for first encounters, ethical considerations, and setting appropriate expectations for partners and projects. As part of the workshop, participants will work through community engagement plans. This is the first of a series of four workshops offered in 2023.
Facilitators include:
Chandra McMillion
CEO & Founder, McMillion Group
Elizabeth Towner, PhD
Department of Family Medicine & Public Health Sciences, WSU School of Medicine
Rodlescia Sneed, PhD, MPH
Institute of Gerontology & Department of Psychology, WSU
Carrie Leach, PhD, MPA
Institute of Gerontology, CURES, & CHECK-UP, WSU
Past events
Workshop: Overview of PCORI Engagement Awards
Hosted by the Wayne State University Center for Health Equity and Community Knowledge in Urban Populations (CHECK-UP) and Karmanos Cancer Institute's Office of Cancer Health Equity and Community Engagement (OCHECE).
This workshop will prepare attendees to apply for funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) that supports engagement of patients and other healthcare stakeholders.
The workshop will focus on the Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards supporting projects that encourage active, meaningful involvement of patients, caregivers, clinicians, and other healthcare stakeholders as integral members of the patient-centered outcomes research/comparative clinical effectiveness research (PCOR/CER) enterprise.
The workshop will focus specifically on the Engagement Award: Capacity Building funding opportunity. This opportunity aims to support projects that help communities increase their facility with and ability to participate across all phases of the PCOR/CER process (Letters of intent for the PCORI April 2022 cycle are due April 4, 2022).
Attendees will gain an understanding of the connection between community engagement and PCOR/CER; learn strategies for preparing a successful LOI; review application requirements; discuss strategies for preparing a community engagement plan; and receive guidance on budget issues.
Representatives from community-based organizations are welcome! PCORI Engagement Awards represent an ideal opportunity to develop a long-term relationship with a WSU faculty members with health research expertise.
The workshop was led by Hayley S. Thompson, Ph.D., who has received three Engagement Awards since 2016. Dr. Thompson is Director, WSU Center for Health Equity & Community Knowledge in Urban Populations (CHECK-UP); Professor, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine; and Associate Center Director; Community Outreach & Engagement and at Karmanos Cancer Institute.