The Building Research for Academic and Community Equity (BRACE) Toolkit is a set of materials to help community organizations and researchers build equitable partnerships. The Toolkit provides information and templates for both community organizations and researchers to help them in working together during the research process.

The Toolkit also includes a form that both researchers and community organizations can complete to connect with an appropriate partner and start a collaboration.

Stage(s) of Research Process: 

• Study Planning: The Toolkit provides recommendations on how to create equitable relationships between community organizations and researchers. These relationships are critically important during the early stages of the research process and should be established at the start of a project.

Who Might Benefit:

• Community Organizations
  • May benefit from the Toolkit’s strategies for working with medical researchers and clinicians to serve on scientific or medical advisory boards.
  • Can use the Toolkit’s information on how to determine if a research proposal is a good fit for their organization, understand what a partnership with a research team would look like, the general timeline of research studies, and the role of Institutional Review Boards in research.
  • Can also use the Toolkit’s template for writing legal and contractual documents between their organization and the research team.
• Researchers
  • May benefit from the Toolkit’s information on beginning a partnership, ensuring equitable data collection, and sharing of results, and tips for writing competitive research proposals.
  • Can use the Toolkit’s templates for resumes/biosketches, plans for sharing results, inclusion enrollment reports, and data safety monitoring plans.
  • Can also use the Toolkit’s guidance on how to add community engagement efforts into their grant and budget proposals.

Key Takeaways and Examples in Practice:

• Creating equitable partnerships between community organizations and research teams can be enhanced by using dedicated materials that help community organizations understand the research process.
• The Toolkit creators are considering ways to monitor the Toolkit and its use in practice.
• The Toolkit creators are also thinking about future additions to the Toolkit, including strategies for handling conflict and concluding a partnership when it has achieved its goals.

This work was done with the direct support by each of the following partners who advance this work:

• Kimberly Kiley and FrontLine Service
• Julie Merker and Beech Brook
• Patricia Terstenyak and Susan G. Komen
• Carey Gibbons and The LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland
• Diane Mastnardo and the Massage Northern Ohio Practice Based Research Network
• Yvonne Oliver and Universal Healthcare Action Network Ohio
• Rachelle Milner and West Side Community House
• Cathy Vue and Asia Services in Action
• Mickey Weisen and United Way 2-1-1

Keywords: Equitable Engagement; Methods of Engagement; Communities; Researchers

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Links to Relevant Resources:

• Register for the BRACE Toolkit
• Strategies for identifying medical researchers and clinicians to serve on scientific or medical advisory boards
• Scientific Publication Describing BRACE Toolkit and Its Development
• Contact the BRACE Toolkit Team at the Center for Health Equity Engagement, Education, and Research