Bridging the Gap: Recommendations for Sustainable Research Partnerships Between Community Health and Academic Health Centers

Abstract: Community health centers (CHCs) should be important partners in research with academic health centers (AHCs). While persistent barriers to CHC-AHC partnerships have been described, our understanding of the potential solutions to these barriers is limited. This study aims to identify recommendations to support sustainable research partnerships between CHCs and AHCs to advance community-engaged health research. We conducted a qualitative study using interviews with CHC-based participants from three community health care organizations and researchers from one AHC. Twenty-five participants completed 12 individual interviews and six small group interviews. Five specific barriers to operationalizing research partnerships between CHCs and AHCs were identified, along with several recommendations to address these barriers. Recommendations are categorized into two domains—the first set calls for practical steps for researchers to adopt when conducting research, while the second set calls for deliberate, and leadership-led activities that support the creation of systemwide research partnerships between CHCs and AHCs.