Creating a Community Outcomes Database and Research Bank, a Mutually Beneficial Partnership

background

Community organizations must track and report data on a large number of outcomes. Infrastructure and technology to efficiently capture this data may not be accessible. Academicians also pursue data collection to answer a variety of research questions, increasingly in community-based settings. It is difficult to collect longitudinal research data in some populations, including the homeless. These overlapping needs were identified within an existing community-academic partnership between a counseling clinic for homeless men and an academic medical center.

methods

Through an iterative process, we examined the community clinic’s reporting requirements, desired variables to capture for both partners, and available tools to measure outcomes. These data elements were incorporated into a robust secure web-based data management tool, REDCap, which will be permanently available to either partner. Community clinicians were trained to use the tool to collect data at the point of service; voluntary participation in research banking of data was offered to all clients.

results

Since July 2014, outcomes data has been tracked for 42 unique clients, 24 (57%) of whom have consented for research banking. The community clinic has experienced significant improvements in ease of data collection and tracking for quality improvement and reporting. Preliminary data analysis is underway for the first research project conducted using the banked data.

conclusion

The development of a dual outcomes database/research bank is a mutually beneficial community-academic partnership. It leverages academic access to data management infrastructure and outcomes assessment tools and community capacity and need to track and manage outcomes.