Healthcare and public health research ultimately seek to improve patient and population health. Unfortunately, more than a decade often passes before research findings become routinized in practice. Improving translational speed, reach, and efficacy requires partnerships among researchers, practitioners, community stakeholders, and communication scholars. This panel will be presenting two partnership models that work.

The University of Kentucky (UK) Center of Excellence in Rural Health (CERH) seeks to improve the health of rural Kentuckians through education, research, service, and community engagement. They do this by partnering with hospitals and clinics, health professionals, community service agencies, non-profits and other organizations. Panelists will discuss Kentucky Homeplace, two ongoing research projects: Improving Diabetes Outcomes (I & II), and introduce the Kentucky Office of Rural Health along with ideas for partnering with your state Office of Rural Health.

Another successful model, Practice-Based Research Networks (PH PBRNs), are partnerships among public health researchers, state and local public health agencies, and community groups. In an ongoing pilot test, the UK Rural Cancer Prevention Center is partnering with the North Carolina and Kentucky PH PBRNs and the PH PBRN National Coordinating Center to study optimal communication channels and local health department characteristics for disseminating and implementing an efficacious HPV vaccination video-based intervention. Panelists from both PBRNs will discuss the impetus for involving communication scientists in dissemination and implementation, compare mixed-methods study designs, and share preliminary results.