Partnership & Infrastructure Domain

The Partnership & Infrastructure Domain builds and sustains strong partnerships that:

  • Develops evidence-based recommendations that target people, policies, and practices that shape research priorities and guide implementation
  • Ensures trustworthy research is grounded in community needs and positioned for real-world application
  • Supports research teams by building infrastructure and advancing initiatives that address barriers, improve processes, and collaboration across partners.

Projects:

  1. Project ENTRUST 

    Project ENTRUST was brought forward by community leaders in Durham County and surrounding areas who raised concerns about trust in Duke Health’s health care and research. In response, Duke Health leaders, researchers, and community partners worked together to develop the ENTRUST Survey, which explored trust and trustworthiness, experiences that may affect health care interactions, and perspectives on health and medical research. The survey was completed by 6,167 participants, and the findings were shared and discussed at six community Town Hall meetings with more than 300 participants. These conversations gave community members an opportunity to reflect on the findings, share their experiences and perspectives, and identify priorities for improvement, including communication, active listening, cultural competence, and being visible, engaged, and responsive in community spaces.

    The community’s feedback is now helping shape the next phase of Project ENTRUST. A Translation to Action Taskforce, made up of Duke Health and community leaders, is developing recommendations to address the priorities identified by community members and strengthen trust in Duke Health. The recommendations will be shared with Duke Health leaders to help guide future improvements in communication, care access, research relationships, and partnerships with community-based organizations.

    The ENTRUST survey and community-engagement process will be repeated every five years to track progress, hear from the community again, and identify new opportunities for improvement.

  2. Community Partnered Research Network (CPRN) Executive Leadership Committee 
  3. CACHE Community Engagement 
    CACHE's goals are to understand current barriers to high-quality, accessible care and redesign care delivery to reduce differences in health outcomes.
  4. SPARKS Studio 
    Brings together researchers, community groups, patients, and other stakeholders who work on the same health issue from different approaches across the translational spectrum to spark new and innovative ideas for community-engaged research projects.