Journal Clubs: An Educational Approach to Advance Understanding Among Community Partners and Academic Researchers About CBPR and Cancer Health Disparities

Abstract

Background Journal clubs may enhance the knowledge and skills necessary to engage in community-based participatory research (CBPR) that will ultimately impact cancer health disparities. This article: (1) describes an innovative approach to adapting the traditional journal club format to meet community and academic participants’ needs, (2) presents evaluation data, and (3) explores whether responses differed between academic and community members. Methods Five journal clubs occurred between February 2011 and May 2012 as a training activity of a regional cancer health disparities initiative. Each journal club was jointly planned and facilitated by an academic member in collaboration with a community partner. Attendees were recruited from academic programs across the Moffitt Cancer Center/university and community partners. Responses to a 13-item evaluation of each journal club session were compared to assess whether certain topics were evaluated more favorably, and explore differences between academic and community participants’ assessment of the topic relevance. Results Evaluations were positive (mean ratings >4 out of 5) on most items and overall. No statistically significant differences were observed between academic and community members’ ratings. Key overlapping interests by community partners and academic researchers/trainees for future journal club topics included discussing real-world CBPR examples and methods for involving the community in research. Conclusions Although the initial goal was to use journal clubs as an educational tool to increase CBPR knowledge and skills of junior faculty trainees, results suggest mutual academic-community benefit and interest in learning more about CBPR as a way to reduce cancer health disparities.

Student Journal Club to Improve Cultural Humility with LGBTQ Patients

“…The initial concept of creating a journal club specifically focused on LGBTQ-identified and culturally responsive health literature was proposed by Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OUHCOM) students and operationalized by faculty and staff, who customized the structure and processes of the club after examining best practices and modifying available resources from other journal clubs. 15,[17][18][19]22 First-and second-year students on the main OUHCOM campus received recruitment emails and flyers, class Facebook announcements, and word of mouth notifications. Investigators held an information session in September 2018.…”

“… 15 , 16 Journal club participation can also make physicians and medical students feel more comfortable and confident in their ability to evaluate study design, research methods, and results of peer-reviewed articles published in scientific journals, and stay current on medical developments. 17 - 19 …”

“…15,16 Journal club participation can also make physicians and medical students feel more comfortable and confident in their ability to evaluate study design, research methods, and results of peer-reviewed articles published in scientific journals, and stay current on medical developments. [17][18][19] Several professional organizations and scientific journals have recommended structural frameworks for journal clubs and offer tools and assessments to gauge effectiveness. [20][21][22][23] Following a systematic review of literature on medical journal clubs, a 15-item list of best practices for journal clubs was developed.…”

Steps to the Reopening of an Interdisciplinary Journal Club—Austrian Experiences

“…If there is support by the faculty, for example in the field of biostatistics, this can contribute to a successful JC (Afifi, Davis, Khan, Publicover, & Gee, 2006). Vadaparampil et al (2014) identified a further learning objective for JCs we consider as outstandingly important, namely "to increase critical thinking". Critical thinking is a competence everyone should develop during an academic career.…”

Engaging Individuals with Sickle Cell Disease in Patient-Centered Outcomes Research: A Community Health Ambassador Training Model

“…31 Th e CHA concept is rooted in research that incorporates the use of lay health advisors. 32,33 It refl ects similar roles identifi ed in community-engaged research, such as community partners, 34 patient navigators, 35 promotoras, [36][37][38] and outreach workers. 39 Lay health advisor models have also been successful, cost-eff ective, community-level strategies.…”