University of Michigan BACPAC Mechanistic Research Center

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Project Summary/Abstract Increasing the racial/ethnic diversity of participants in clinical pain research and including stakeholders in the design and conduct of research are intertwined goals that are essential to increasing the acceptability, feasibility, rigor, and relevance of pain research. This proposed administrative supplement to the parent BACPAC Mechanistic Research Center at the University of Michigan (UM) will support a robust effort to enhance patient and other stakeholder engagement, particularly that of underrepresented minorities, and to implement a sustained outreach effort to the historically underserved Black and Hispanic communities in and around Detroit and Flint, Michigan. The goal of the parent research project is to conduct a sequential, multiple assignment, randomized trial (SMART) to investigate behavioral and medical interventions in chronic low back pain, and to conduct intervention response phenotyping. The BACPAC MRC is housed at the UM Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center (CPFRC), a successful translational research group focused on identifying the underlying mechanisms and most effective treatments for individuals with chronic pain. Supplement Aim 1 is to hire two full-time Community Research Facilitators (CRFs) who will conduct outreach in the Detroit and Flint areas. The CRFs will be community health workers or individuals with similar experience; that is, they will possess deep knowledge of local resources and can serve as a bridge between research and diverse communities. CRFs will lead outreach efforts in predominantly Black and Hispanic communities in the Detroit and Flint areas to support study recruitment efforts and increase sample diversity; will facilitate bidirectional communication and knowledge transmission between the CPFRC and community stakeholders; and will help enrolled participants navigate the challenges of participating in clinical trials, thereby enhancing retention. Supplement Aim 2 is to establish a Stakeholder Advisory Board for Clinical Research in Chronic Pain (StACC) that will include people living with pain who are diverse in terms of race/ethnicity, age, gender, and rural/urban location; as well as other stakeholders including providers, clinicians, and pain researchers. This group will be governed using best practices for stakeholder engagement and will include formal training of patient advisors in research fundamentals, and training of academics in community-engaged research. The StACC will provide meaningful input on issues such as recruitment, data collection, analysis, and interpretation to ensure that the BACPAC MRC research is maximally accessible to diverse participants and that data collected is valid and relevant. We will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the StACC process and outcomes. Completion of these Aims will lay the foundation for a sustainable infrastructure within the CPFRC to enhance partnerships with underserved communities of color and form long-lasting, trusting relationships. This infrastructure will facilitate getting input from diverse patients for new studies as they are being planned, recruiting more diverse populations into our ongoing studies, and communicating our findings to these groups.