FREE FOR NURSES! February 2015
Volume 26, Number 2
Nursingmatters ■
www.nursingmattersonline.com
Playing a Strong Hand: CARDS engages community
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By Kathleen Corbett Freimuth A researcher came to the Community Advisors on Research Design and Strategy – CARDS – seeking answers. How could her questionnaire tool provoke an authentic response from research participants? The advisors, seeing the research tool for the first time, offered their unbiased perspective. “I am troubled by the question, ‘Are you often displeased about trivial things?’ It’s judgmental,” one advisor said. “If I am displeased, it’s not trivial to me. I could have a valid reason for being displeased. ‘What bothers or upsets you?’ might be a less-judgmental question.” The origin of such pointed discussions began five years ago when researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Nursing sought a way to effectively engage people in research, especially those from under-represented communities. They created CARDS, a unique advisory group with a non-research perspective. The advisors constitute a core service of the Wisconsin Network for Research Support, a community-engagement center based at the School of Nursing. In 2010, Barbara Bowers, PhD, RN, FAAN, and associate dean for academic programs, received funding from the National Institute for Nursing Research and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences to develop a program to integrate community input with academic research. “We wanted to link researchers with community members who
Betty Kaiser (second from right) discusses research materials with Rasaki Emmanuel (second from left) and other CARDS advisors from the Goodman Community Center. TODD BROWN/UWSMPH MEDIA SOLUTIONS
could bring the perspective of non-researchers into the world of academia,” said Gay Thomas, MS, director of community engagement for the Wisconsin Network for Research Support. “The goal of CARDS is to help researchers create materials that are more accessible, understandable and engaging for the general public.” In developing the group, Thomas and colleague Betty Kaiser, PhD, RN, and director of community training for the network, partnered with Madison’s Goodman Community Center and the Lussier Community Education Center. Together, they established two groups of advisors, whose members come from diverse racial, socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. “These were the voices we wanted to hear on our advisory boards,” Thomas said. ”They represent the breadth and diversity of people who use community cen-
ter services – parenting and child programs, senior-meal programs, women’s support groups and the food pantry. ” At a 90-minute meeting with the guest researcher, facilitated by Thomas and Kaiser, the advisors receive a brief overview and are told the aim of the project or research. The advisors then review research-study plans and materials, and identify language or formatting that might pose concerns for potential study participants. In the post-meeting phase, Kaiser and Thomas provide a detailed followup report to the researcher that includes a complete revision of the researcher’s document reflecting suggestions from the advisors. The advisors are paid for each monthly meeting they attend. In preparing the advisors for their advisory role, Thomas and Kaiser emphasize the importance of continued on page 4