The Patient and Community Engagement in Research (PaCER) program facilitates engagement between academic, clinical, patient, and community partners across the state to ensure that community input informs research and that research addresses the priorities and needs of the communities it serves.

Our engagement services support all phases of health research projects, from conceptualization to dissemination, and include the following:

Consultations

Time-limited, free consultative guidance to researchers and patient and community partners on a variety of engagement topics, including: best practices for community-engaged research; guidance for identifying and engaging with communities; review of grant proposals and budgets for community-engaged research; and connecting researchers and partners who share common interests.

Request a consultation with a member of the PaCER team.

Contracted Services

Technical assistance is provided by PaCER staff to research teams and tailored to the needs of their specific projects. Contracted services are billable and rates are available at tracs.unc.edu/rates. Before billable work can begin, PaCER requires a Scope of Work outlining the agreed upon services, timeline, and billing/invoicing. The provision of all services is dependent on PaCER staff availability.

Request a consultation with a member of the PaCER team to learn more.

Currently offered contracted services include:

• Community Feedback Sessions: PaCER staff are available to facilitate Community Feedback Sessions (CFS) for researchers interested in obtaining patient and community partner input on the design, implementation, or dissemination of a research project. These one-time sessions last 1.5 hours and aim to elicit authentic and constructive feedback from a small group of partners. For more information, view the Community Feedback Sessions (pdf).
  
  Note: This service does not include PaCER support for the recruitment of CFS attendees and the coordination of meeting logistics (e.g. scheduling, attendee compensation).

• Meeting Facilitation: PaCER staff are trained in a variety of facilitation techniques and are available to support research teams in the design and implementation of their meetings with patient, community, and other partners.
  
  Types of support include: 1) technical assistance related to designing meetings, developing agendas, creating discussion prompts and meeting activities, and summarizing key takeaways; and 2) facilitation of meetings (time-limited).
  
  The types of meetings most commonly supported include:
  • Initial Advisory Group/Board Convenings: Promotes relationship-building and orients partners to a new group/project
  • Focused Conversations: Promotes shared understanding and awareness among a group of people; time for open dialogue and reflection
  • Shared Vision Workshops: Reach shared agreement on a complex question with many possible answers
  • Action Planning Workshops: Gain core agreement on/generate a detailed work plan for a specific project or event
  
  Note: This service does not include PaCER support for the recruitment of meeting attendees and the coordination of meeting logistics (e.g. scheduling, attendee compensation).

• Data Parties: A data party is a participatory evaluation session to engage patient, community, clinical, or other partners in data interpretation and/or review of research findings/results. Through this interactive 2-4 hour long event, partners are invited to review research data, discuss their interpretations, and inform recommendations. PaCER staff are available to support research teams in the design and implementation of their data party, including developing agendas and discussion prompts, facilitating the data party discussion, and summarizing key takeaways.

• Coaching: PaCER staff are available to provide coaching to study teams throughout the development and implementation of their engagement methods/strategies. This service is intended for teams seeking ongoing guidance beyond the scope of time-limited consultations and is best suited for teams needing in-depth expertise on long-term engagement approaches over the life course of a specific research project. Common coaching topics include input on study-specific engagement plans, strategies for developing and maintaining advisory boards, approaches for community-engaged dissemination, and review of materials intended for community/patient partners.

• Patient Partner Training: PaCER's 'Partnering with Researchers 101: How Patients, Caregivers, and Community Members Can Help Guide Health Research', developed in collaboration with community and patient partners and Duke University, is a 1.5-hour interactive training to equip patients, caregivers, and community members who are new to research engagement with the knowledge and confidence to collaborate effectively with researchers. Training participants explore the fundamentals of health research, the critical role of partners in the research process, and how their lived experiences and insights can shape more meaningful and community-driven health solutions. Live delivery of this training by PaCER staff and their patient partners is available by request.