Community Engagement and Research in the Setting of the COVID-19 Pandemic in New York City

Background: New York City was the original US epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, and vulnerable communities have been disproportionately impacted. In the context of the ongoing pandemic, the project team has expanded its previously successful patient and community engagement methods to create a research-to-action network of over 125 community-based organizations (CBOs) from all five NYC boroughs, Mount Sinai faculty, staff and students, and academic partners from around the country. Together, the team will survey more than 10,000 NYC residents to understand the experiences of vulnerable populations, including the physical and psychosocial impacts of the pandemic, and how CBOs can help their communities combat the effects of COVID-19. Proposed Solution to the Problem: The team will bring community leaders and organizations from its research-to-action network together to build research-related capacity through virtual trainings and forums. The team will disseminate findings from its COVID-19 community-based survey by sharing data in real time, and use these data for research idea generation, crowd sourcing, and team building on a web-based portal. Research teams will be able to access virtual consultations to receive technical, statistical, and other support for projects. Objectives: Utilize the principles of crowdsourcing to virtually engage diverse communities in NYC to develop and share ideas that lead to new research questions and projects in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic Build capacity of stakeholders to conduct COVID-19-related research through virtual PCOR/CER trainings Develop a consultation service to provide technical, statistical, and additional assistance to facilitate successful completion of community-driven COVID-19 research projects