Cultivating strong partnerships among community and academic stakeholders expedites the translation of research findings into practice and communities by enhancing opportunities for research dissemination and implementation. However, the lack of systematic methods for community stakeholder engagement may decelerate the translational research process. The North Carolina Translational Research and Clinical Sciences Institute implemented an innovative approach to community engagement called the Action Learning Cohort (ALC) Series. The ALC Series, a workgroup extension of a professional conference, used action learning and systems thinking strategies to conceptualize and develop a product aimed at preventing, treating, and controlling hypertension in eastern North Carolina. We evaluated the acceptability and practicality of the ALC Series using survey, focus group, and interview pilot data. Action learning and systems thinking strategies led ALC stakeholders to develop and disseminate The Empathy Building Resource Guide: A Toolkit for Enhancing Patient-Provider Relationships in the Treatment, Management, and Prevention of Hypertension. Stakeholders rated the Series as satisfactory and acknowledged gains in knowledge and desire for engagement with fellow ALC stakeholders beyond the Series. The ALC Series approach is a potentially practical and acceptable model for systematically engaging community stakeholders in translating knowledge into a product that addresses health topics like hypertension.
Keywords: action learning principles; community-engaged research; empathy; systems thinking methods; translational research.