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The LAB-CTSI Office of Community Engagement is creating a new research infrastructure to support the development of bi-directional community translational research partnerships, with the ultimate goal being to promote health, reduce disparities, increase access to care, and to improve the quality of care delivered in Los Angeles County. We are creating partnerships across the the largest community healthcare providers, provider groups, and/or systems of care in Los Angeles County; the University of Southern California and Los Angeles County+USC; Childrens Hospital Los Angeles; Kaiser Permanente of Southern California (KPSC), the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LAC-DHS), the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, and the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County.
Given its size and diversity, Los Angeles County is faced with some of the greatest health disparities in the United States. Researchers from the partner institutions are actively engaged in community-based, health-related research in the geographic areas that include East and South Los Angeles, and the Metropolitan area of Los Angeles. The goal of the Office of Community Engagement is to transform existing research relationships focused on the community into fully partnered and lasting relationships between researchers and members of the professional and lay communities. The Office of Community Engagement provides LAB-CTSI researchers with access to invaluable community input to guide and prioritize the development of new therapies or prevention strategies, study objectives, study design, and research methodologies.
To date, new research has been initiated with support from the Office of Community Engagement, including three projects funded by the UniHealth Foundation. These include: (1) a project to develop a cancer-related surveillance system at KPSC, for dissemination to other Office of Community Engagement partnering institutions; (2) a project to promote continuity of care among the chronically ill through the LAC-DHS’s Disease Management Program; and (3) an evaluation of “patient navigators” to help patients with severe and persistent mental illness access primary and preventive medical care services through Los Angeles County Departments of Health Services and Mental Health.
The Office of Community Engagement has also established and now regularly convenes three Advisory Committees to inform the research and educational priorities of the Office of Community Engagement and the LAB-CTSI. These three committees include an Office of Community Engagement Advisory Committee; Community Leadership Council; and Committee of Community Healthcare Providers. In addition, the Office of Community Engagement serves as a clearinghouse of information about community-based research that is being conducted by LAB-CTSI investigators and community partners, and employs two bilingual community ourtreach liaisons who are responsible for identifying, mapping and working with community groups connected to our partner institutions.