Community Engagement Council
Bringing together clinicians, professional partners, and survivors of TBI and their caregivers to align research innovations with lived experience.
Core Pillars of Community Engaged Research
I-HEAL follows best practices for community engaged research including transparent communication and shared decision-making. To guide I-HEAL through all stages of research, the Community Engagement Council (CEC) partners with a diverse group of people with experience in TBI. The CEC emphasizes reciprocal co-learning relationships across I-HEAL as research is most impactful when it is evidence-based and informed by lived experience. The CEC is intentional about ensuring community stakeholders have a voice from forming the research question to dissemination and implementation.
Learn about I-HEAL’s Community Engagement Council’s Key Components
CEC is made up of three groups: Lived Experience Partners, Policy and Professional Partners, and Individual Experience Partners. I-HEAL’s community partners are vital in making sure that research efforts are aligned with lived experiences. Partners include providers, patients with cognitive challenges and their caregivers, and professional partners working to implement evidence-based practices across disciplines.
Community Engagement Council Stakeholder Groups
Our Lived Experience Partners are individuals who can speak to their lived experience of TBI or caregiving for a loved one with TBI. Each I-HEAL innovation ultimately serves the LEP community.
Learn more about LEPPolicy and Professional Partners guide I-HEAL activities and plans for implementation as members of organizations that serve patients with TBI. They also support I-HEAL’s dissemination through collaborative workshops and presentations. See more about the PPP group and about engagement opportunities.
Learn more about PPPOur Individual Engagement Partners (IEPs) are boots-on-the-ground experts. Our IEPs bring specialized knowledge and guidance to ensure each innovation is useful and can be implemented in the real world. Learn more about our IEPs by visiting each project’s page.
Community Engagement Council Principles
The Community Engagement Council focuses on collaboration and uses stakeholder and community-engaged
research best practices. The goal of CEC is to make sure I-HEAL is addressing relevant challenges with
impactful innovations. By engaging community groups in all steps of the projects, I-HEAL’s evidence-based
innovations reflect the community we serve.
The CEC’s work is grounded in principles that focus on engaging partners to inform I-HEAL’s science.
- Providing clear, transparent, and consistent communication that informs stakeholders of I-HEAL activities and progress.
- Collaborating with stakeholders to enable shared decision-making based on lived experience.
- Establishing a co-learning environment that mutually benefits the whole team and encourages bi-directional communication.
Community Engagement Council Team
John Corrigan, PhD
Community Engagement Council Chair
Megan Moore, PhD, MSW.
Multi-Principal Investigator of Community Engagement Core
Natalie Gilmore, PhD, CCC-SLP
Early Career Investigator, Research & Education
Amanda Tweed, BA
Project Manager
Leslie Kempthorne, BS
Project Manager
Sirrina Martinez
How We Engage in I-HEAL
The Community Engagement Council and the engagement partners collaborate with all I-HEAL’s projects and cores. Community engagement partners inform project methodologies and data collection tools and provide insight into analysis and products. Members also collaborate on large initiatives such as workforce development workshops and social media outreach.