OVERVIEW: SC CTSI community engagement starts with community listening to understand their health problems. It must end with dissemination of results back to the community to have real impact. The results dissemination initiative has three main components to close this loop:

1. Research to understand current practices in dissemination of results (lead: Regulatory Knowledge and Support core)

2. Consultations and resources that facilitate effective dissemination at the community level of lay language summaries of their results (lead: Clinical Research Support core)

3. Direct links to community members, organizations and study participants for delivery of lay language summaries (lead: Community Engagement core) 

GOALS: To ensure that research results are disseminated clearly and in a timely manner back to people who participated in the research, as well as to the communities who can benefit from the knowledge.

CURRENT ACTIVITIES: 

1. Research: The Regulatory Knowledge and Support (RKS) core has initiated research into current practices around dissemination of research results. Surveys of clinical research professionals indicate a strong need for systematic approaches to dissemination. Students from RKS are currently examining approaches to results dissemination.

2. We have created a self-service template for use by investigators and study teams who are ready to disseminate study-related information back to participants and share findings with the general public. 

Click here to download our Word document template that you fill in to create your own plain language summary. Please note, for optimal sharing, please convert your completed Word document into a PDF before sharing widely.
View or Download the Clinical Trial Results Summary Template

If you are looking for examples from other studies, please see below and feel free to use as guidance for developing your own summary:

View or Download the COVID-19 and the Latino Community in Los Angeles County Example
View or Download the Reaching Veterans Online for Research and Outreach Efforts Example
View or Download the Developing and Testing an online Program to Reduce Heavy Alcohol use among Young Adult Veterans in the United States Example

3. Community links: We will offer workshops and toolkits on dissemination strategies, e.g. fotonovelas and manga/anime to appeal to Latinx and Asian-American communities, respectively. CE will also provide guidance for dissemination at community forums and via social media. We will collaborate with community members, research participants, and investigators to develop materials for three initial SC CTSI-supported research projects in AD, dementia, and diabetes in order to inform best practices going forward. 



Questions about the initiative

Nicki Apaydin
Associate Director of Communications
nicki.apaydin@med.usc.edu

NIH Funding Acknowledgment: Important - All publications resulting from the utilization of SC CTSI resources are required to credit the SC CTSI grant by including the NIH funding acknowledgment and must comply with the NIH Public Access Policy.