269 Community Forums as participatory dissemination: A collaboration between an academic institution and community partners

Objectives/Goals: The University of Illinois Chicago’s (UIC) Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) aimed to increase research dissemination findings to strengthen community relationships and opportunities for researchers to be in dialogue with communities. Methods/Study Population: From 2024 to present, the CCTS developed a collaboration with community and internal UIC partners connected to Auburn Gresham (AG), a predominantly African American community located in a far southside neighborhood of Chicago, to co-design a series of Community Forums. Community partners included UIC’s Neighborhood Center AG site, dedicated to supporting local stakeholders through strategic interventions, Office of Community Engagement and Neighborhood Health Partnerships (OCEAN-HP), fostering community partnerships through service, education, and research, and the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation (GAGDC), a grassroots organization focused on community development in low-income communities. Results/Anticipated Results: Each community forum discussed research topics affecting the AG community by providing a safe space to foster bidirectional dialogue among community members, university researchers, and other field experts, while simultaneously bridging the gap between the community and research. Topics were identified through AG members’ community expertise and audience anecdotal/survey feedback. The forums were free and evolved to provide community resource packets and basic health screenings (e.g., blood pressure and glucose). This was an iterative engagement process (e.g., establishing relationships and trust, incorporating community feedback) to best mold the community forums to AG’s needs. The community audience and researchers/field experts have continued to express their interest in future community events. Discussion/Significance of Impact: The AG community forums have increased the interest in what research is and how to be involved among community members. Researchers/field experts have reiterated the importance of bidirectional dialogue with the community and the positive impact on research. These forums support research dissemination and community engagement.