Community is StrengthFor decades, underserved populations have been under-represented as participants and collaborators in health research. There are a variety of reasons for this including factors within underserved communities such as mistrust of and fear around research, but also factors within the research community including lack of understanding and skills to engage these populations. COVID-19 increased barriers to creating respectful and meaningful research partnerships.

IPFCC partnered with Smart from the Start (Smart) in the project, Engaging Underserved Urban Communities in Research: Addressing Challenges in the Context of COVID-19, to address these issues. The project’s purpose was to identify challenges to engaging urban, underserved populations in research during the time of COVID-19 and develop resources providing information and strategies to both researchers and community organizations.