Community Engagement in Behavioral Medicine: A Scoping Review

Reema Persad-Clem; Liane M Ventura; Tierney Lyons; Christiana Keinath; Kristi D Graves; Margaret L Schneider; Rachel C Shelton; Lisa G Rosas

doi:10.1007/s12529-023-10242-6

Community Engagement in Behavioral Medicine: A Scoping Review

Int J Behav Med. 2023 Dec 6. doi: 10.1007/s12529-023-10242-6. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Reema Persad-Clem¹, Liane M Ventura², Tierney Lyons³, Christiana Keinath⁴, Kristi D Graves⁵, Margaret L Schneider⁶, Rachel C Shelton⁷, Lisa G Rosas⁸

Affiliations

¹ School of Graduate Education, Geisinger College of Health Sciences, Scranton, PA, 18509, USA.
² Center for Applied Research and Evaluation in Women's Health, Department of Health Services Management and Policy, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, 37614-1700, USA.
³ School of Medicine Library, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Scranton, PA, 18509, USA.
⁴ Charles C. Sherrod Library, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, 37614-1700, USA.
⁵ Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 20007, USA.
⁶ Department of Population Health and Disease Prevention, Program in Public Health, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.
⁷ Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
⁸ Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Department of Medicine, Office of Community Engagement, Stanford School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, 94304-1210, USA. lgrosas@stanford.edu.

PMID: 38057655
DOI: 10.1007/s12529-023-10242-6

Abstract

Background: Behavioral medicine has made key contributions toward improving health outcomes. Engaging community partners in research is critical to addressing persistent health inequities. The aim of this scoping review was to explore how researchers engaged community partners within the field of behavioral medicine research from 2005 to 2023.

Method: Publication databases and gray literature were searched for research that engaged community partners to address questions relevant to behavioral medicine. Articles were screened by title and abstract, and then by full text. Articles meeting the inclusion criteria were coded using the framework provided by the Engagement Navigator to identify engagement approaches, methods, and tools and when they were used during the research.

Results: Of 1486 articles initially identified, 58 met the inclusion criteria. Most articles used well-known approaches (e.g., community-based participatory research; 67%), methods (e.g., advisory committees; 59%), and tools (e.g., interviews; 41%), and engaged with healthcare service providers (62%) and/or patients (53%). Community partners were most often included in research planning and design (79%), and less often in dissemination (45%).

Conclusion: Community engagement has considerable potential to address health inequities. Our assessment of the approaches, methods, and tools used by behavioral medicine researchers to engage with a diverse range of community partners points toward promising strategies for enhancing the impact of community engagement. Researchers should incorporate explicit descriptions of community engagement strategies in publications, an outcome that could be facilitated by clear publishing guidelines, structured reporting tools, and clear messaging from funders about the value of community engagement in behavioral medicine research.

Keywords: Behavioral medicine; Community engagement; Community-based participatory research; Health equity; Scoping review; Stakeholder participation.

Publication types

Review

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding