The aim of this article is to assist academic health centers (AHC) in community engagement (CE) and community-engaged research (CEnR) using five steps: defining community and identifying partners, learning the etiquette of CE, building a sustainable network of CEnR researchers, recognizing that CEnR will require the development of new methodologies, and improving translation and dissemination plans. This paper asserts that national health disparities will persist without CEnR, and that barriers toward implementation of CEnR can be overcome through leadership and commitment of top decision makers within institutions.

Michener, L., Cook, L., Ahmed, S.M., Yonas, M.A., Coyne-Beasley, T., & Aquilar-Gaxiola, S. (2012). Aligning the goals of community-engaged research: Why and how academic health centers can successfully engage with communities to improve health. Academic Medicine, 87 (3), 285-91. Full Text.