The Community Engagement Specialist will work within a team of professionals in the Recruitment Innovation Center to build and support community engagement relationships and outreach. This position will work extensively in the areas of community and patient recruitment, as well as research team support and consultation. The main goals of the Community Engagement Specialist are to work collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interests, or similar situations to address issues affecting the wellbeing of those people. The Community Engagement Specialist also builds trust, enlists new resources and allies, creates better communication, and improves overall health outcomes as successful projects evolve into lasting collaborations.
Key Responsibilities
Community Engagement
Actively participates in the Recruitment Innovation Center consultation process including community engagement outreach.
Identifies potential community partners and partnerships through appropriate networks, associations, and leaders.
Plans and implements community engagement outreach and relationship building, including recruiting community/patient stakeholders, data collection, reporting and follow-up with participants.
Practices the community engagement outreach and relationship building model through participation in CTSA regional and local trainings.
Identifies and builds professional relationships with local and national community-based organizations that have an interest in building academic-community research partnerships.
Brings researchers and community partners together to share their knowledge, skills and resources with a common goal of improving community health.
Patient Recruitment
Develops and implements social media recruitment plans for community/patient experts by utilizing multi-tiered and culturally tailored materials and messaging.
Educates the community on the study before recruiting for participating.
Ensures researchers effectively engage with key community stakeholders to identify research questions and produce results that are relevant to the community.
Participates in community events and activities. Invests in the community and leverages relationships in order to build trust, enlist new resources and allies, and create better communication, with the overall goal of improving overall health outcomes.
Data Collection & Analysis
Performs data collection through gathering and measuring information on variables of interest.
Analyzes data by inspecting, cleaning, transforming, and modeling research data with the goal of highlighting useful information, suggestion conclusions, and supporting decision making.
Utilizes multiple strategies to disseminate research findings, illustrates the impact of research, and meets the needs of both the researcher and the community. Shares knowledge by an appropriate means (e.g. publications, conferences, workshops, web-based activities, etc.).
Makes sure that information is disseminated back to all levels of the community/clinic organization. Inquire about their preferred method (e.g., community forums, reports, web-based, etc.), and makes sure data are translated into the preferred language of the community.
Peer Leadership
Consults and advises researchers, clinical providers and community organizations who are interested in incorporating community engagement research principles in a new or ongoing project.
Consults and advises on topics including education on community engagement research principles; identifying and developing community partnerships; methods for effective collaboration throughout the research process; community engagement research methodology and results dissemination; and ethical issues in community engaged research.
Contributes to community and researcher education and outreach activities via collaboration innovation webinars and other forums.
Identifies and builds professional relationships with local and national community-based organizations that have an interest in building academic-community research partnerships.
Facilitates conversations between diverse groups of community/patients and research teams around sensitive topics of health and healthcare.
About the Department:
The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical & Translational Research (VICTR) is Vanderbilt's virtual home for clinical and translational research. Supported by Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Office of Research and the NIH-sponsored Clinical and Translational Service Award (CTSA), the mission of the institute is to transform the way ideas and research discoveries make their way from origin to patient care. VICTR functions to help researchers and clinicians do their jobs better by providing tools and support to improve the quality of research, publications, grant writing, and training for future doctors and researchers. For more information, please visit https://victr.vumc.org/ .
Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. It is a place where your diversity -- of culture, thinking, learning and leading -- is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt's mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.
VUMC Recent Accomplishments:
Because we are committed to providing the best in patient care, education and research, we are proud of our recent accomplishments.
US News & World Report: #1 Hospital in Tennessee, #1 Health Care Provider in Nashville, #1 Audiology (Bill Wilkerson Center), 12 adult and 10 pediatric clinical specialties ranked among the nation's best, #15 Education and Training
Truven Health Analytics: among the top 50 cardiovascular hospitals in the U.S.
Becker's Hospital Review: one of the "100 Greatest Hospitals in America"
The Leapfrog Group: grade "A" in Hospital Safety Score
National Institutes of Health: among the top 10 grant awardees for medical research in the US
Magnet Recognition Program: Vanderbilt nurses are the only group honored in Middle Tennessee
Nashville Business Journal: Middle Tennessee's healthiest employer
American Hospital Association: among the 100 "Most Wired" medical systems in the US
Vanderbilt University Medical Center is home to Vanderbilt University Hospital, The Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, the Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital and the Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital. These hospitals experienced more than 61,000 inpatient admissions during fiscal year 2015. Vanderbilt’s adult and pediatric clinics treated nearly 2 million patients during this same period. Vanderbilt University Hospital and the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt are recognized again this year by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals as among the nation’s best with 18 nationally ranked specialties. Vanderbilt University Medical Center is world renowned because of the innovation, work ethic and collegiality of its employees. From our health care advances to our compassionate care, Vanderbilt owes its accomplishments and reputation to staff and faculty who bring skill and drive and innovation to the medical center day after day. World-leading academic departments and comprehensive centers of excellence pursue scientific discoveries and transformational educational and clinical advances across the entire spectrum of health and disease.As t...he largest employer in middle Tennessee, we welcome those who are interested in ongoing development in a caring, culturally sensitive and professional atmosphere. Most of us spend so much of our lives at work, we want to be part of maintaining a workplace in which people support one another and encourage reaching for excellence. Many high-achieving employees stay at Vanderbilt because of the professional growth they experience and because of their appreciation of Vanderbilt’s benefits, public events and discussions, athletic opportunities, beautiful setting and, above all, sense of community and purpose.Vanderbilt and its employees share a set of mutual expectations that have been created with productivity, legality, fairness and safety always in mind. We believe that our investment in training and compensating employees multiplies in value when we enable individuals to deliver their best performance for the benefit of us all.
