166 Community Driven Research Day: Addressing Community Needs in Rural Pennsylvania

Abstract

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Describe the community of Norther Dauphin County, PA and increase awareness of this community’s health related needs. Establish partnerships between Penn State faculty and Northern Dauphin County community-based organizations to develop an optimal approach to address identified health related needs. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Northern Dauphin is located in the rural Northern Tier of Dauphin County, PA and has roughly 30,000 residents within 272 square miles. Of those residents, approximately 1 in 4 families live below the poverty level. Although over 6,000 residents receive Medical Assistance (MA), only one local provider accepts MA covered patients. Residents have limited access to health care due to the rurality of the area when paired with a lack of public transportation. The Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Community Engaged Research Core (CERC) has partnered with Northern Dauphin County community- based organizations to explore the needs of community members and how partnerships with Penn State Faculty could help to address the community needs. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: A Community Advisory Board (CAB) of leaders (e.g., school officials, business owners) was created to identify community needs. After an initial workshop with the CAB, an assessment was created and distributed to the larger community to identify the top community health needs. Details from the assessment were then used to prioritize the themes for the Community Driven Research Day (CDRD). The CERC team identified Penn State University faculty with research interests related to these prioritized themes. The faculty identified and community leaders were then invited to the CDRD. The agenda for the event included an introduction to Community Engaged Research, a presentation from a researcher and community partner working together, round table discussions based on the themes selected, and an overview of pilot grants. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The CDRD will facilitate partnerships between the Penn State faculty and local community leaders to help effectively move forward addressing the community’s health needs. The PSU CTSI will offer pilot grants to formalize and strengthen these partnerships and conduct community engaged research initiatives to discover optimal ways to address them.