Aim
The Diverse eCohort project envisions transforming UCSF through deep community partnerships into a model research institution that champions diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels of health and wellbeing for the Bay Area community and beyond.
The goals identified by this academic-community partnership are to:
- Build an infrastructure to support online research tailored to diverse communities.
- Demonstrate and document how to partner with communities to improve research outcomes and achieve health equity.
- Jumpstart innovation to include diverse communities in collaboration with UCSF clinical research projects.
Collaborative Design Approach
We partnered with four community partners to use human-centered design to create digital platforms. We recruited over 50 participants matching demographics of two research studies and conducted three usability tests and five participatory design sessions in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Cantonese.
We guided our community partners—the Central American Resource Center, Chinese Community Health Resource Center, Rafiki Coalition, Instituto Familiar de la Raza—in leading the participatory design sessions in their own languages. After the sessions, we moved our insights into prototypes and designs, which allowed us to further explore the product and its delivery.
Next Steps
- Continue to develop two digital platforms for the Patient COUNTS and SOLARS research studies.
- A Diverse eCohort Toolkit as a practical “how-to” for others.
- Ongoing efforts to develop capacity for digital tool development with community partnerships.
Partners
