John J Frey, MDFaculty Director, Community Health ConnectionsProfessor, Department of Family Medicine

WI Health Improvement and Research Partnerships ForumSeptember 14, 2011

Community Health Connections:Who We Are

Top row from left to right: Terry Cohn Renee Koenig Gail Kell

Bottom row from left to right: Nancy Cross Dunham JoAnne Sabir John Frey

Faculty and staff located at UW Madison, and at regional locations across Wisconsin

UW ICTR’s Mission

• To create an environment that transforms research into a continuum from investigation through discovery and to translation into real-life community practice

– “In the field of medicine, for example, it is used to translate the findings in basic research more quickly and efficiently into medical practice and, thus, meaningful health outcomes, whether those are physical, mental, or social outcomes. “

– Thereby linking even the most basic research to practical improvements in human health

– Change the UW culture from “silos” to cooperation and collaboration among ICTR members

UW ICTR website link: https://ictr.wisc.edu/Home

Initial Principles for Community Health Connections

• Statewide process following the Wisconsin Idea

• Learn from UW Extension successes in the field

• Hire regional staff who “know the territory”

• Create regional councils

• Spark and support research in health, broadly defined by the communities themselves

Our Regional Approach

Community Health Connections:3 Areas of Focus for Our Work

• Connecting investigators, community partners– Coordinators: Outreach, information gathering

– Regional Research Councils

• Supporting research development– Consultations, review of grant applications

– Research support services

• Dissemination and capacity-building- Research forums- Skill-building workshops

Outreach and Information Gathering: Inventory of Research Interests, Expertise, Projects

• Contact information

• Academics/researchers:– Institution/campus

• Community-based orgs:– Mission of organization– Populations served

• Research interests, expertise

• Current projects– Objective, intervention, etc.– Funding source– Plans for dissemination– Ideas/needs for moving project forward

• Contact history

• Type of services we’ve provided to projects

Currently 637 in database340 academic researchers

Regional Research Councils, First Four Years

• Initial ICTR Proposal re Community Engagement… create regionally-based research resources,

programmatically linked to the UW-SMPH and the ICTR, which will:

• engage communities with investigators• build trust• support research protocols• facilitate dissemination of research results

• Our work with Councils, 2008 - 2011 – Infrastructure and relationship building, information

sharing, dissemination

Regional Research Councils

• Research champions for regional research resources, interests, ideas

• Councils in 3 of our 4 regions (N, NE, SW)– Convened and staffed by coordinators

• Diversity of academic, community interests– UW system, other campuses, UW Extension– Public health, community health centers, health systems– Non-profits, AHEC, school systems, business

• Quarterly meetings– Bi-directional communication

Connecting to, Collaboration with Other Organizations

• UW Extension• UW System campuses

– UW-Stevens Point– UW-Milwaukee– UW-Eau Claire– UW-La Crosse– UW-Oshkosh

• La Crosse Medical Health Sciences Consortium• WI Institute for Public Policy and Service (WIPPS)• Medical College of Wisconsin’s CTSI• Mayo Clinic Center for Translational Science Activities

Connecting to, Collaboration with Other WI Partnership Program Efforts

• Wisconsin Partnership Program, OAC grants:– Program funding information dissemination– Locating potential academic partners– Grant-writing workshops, technical assistance– Review of grant applications

• Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW)

• UW Population Health Institute– WI County Rankings– Making Wisconsin the Healthiest State

Connecting to, Collaboration with Other ICTR Community Engagement Components

• Community-Academic Partnership Core (CAP)

– “Type 2” pilot, community collaboration grants

– Other CAP community engagement resources:

• Wisconsin Research and Education Network (WREN)• Community-Academic Aging Research Network (CAARN)• Sonderegger Research Center (Pharmacy)• Public Health Practice-based Research Network (Nursing)

• Collaborative Center for Health Equity (CCHE)

Dissemination and Skill-building:Research Forums and Conferences

• Community Health Research Forums:– Sharing Conversations in a Research Café

• UW Stevens Point, March 2009

– Making Connections to Make a Difference• Milwaukee, November 2009

• Collaborations, Co-sponsorships - 2011:– UW Extension, Healthy WI Communities Conference

• Stevens Point, October 2011

– WI Health Improvement and Research Partnerships Forum• Madison, September 2011

– Making Parity Real: A Statewide Dialogue on Policy Changes for Improving WI’s Addiction and Mental Treatment System

• Madison, August 2011

Dissemination and Skill-building:Workshops and Seminar Series

• Conducting “Real World” Evaluation of Public Health Programs and Interventions– WPHA Pre-conference Workshop– Appleton, May 2011

• Accessing Online Library Resources– UW Stevens Point– August 2011

• 2011 MCERN Seminar Series– (Milwaukee Community Engaged Research Network)

Counties Where We’ve Made Connections