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Establishment

Is there a structure at your institution or an existing network with which you can partner to achieve your goals?

If not, and you decide to create a CAB, you should first decide the purpose or focus of your CAB.

​Click on a subject below to be taken to that section of the page.

Developing a CAB for a project

  1. Intervention project

    1. If you’re developing a CAB for an intervention project, the CAB can consult on intervention development and implementation, be involved in shaping a part of the intervention, collaborate on intervention development, or share leadership in developing, implementing, and evaluating the intervention 

    2. Activities will depend on the project’s needs and the level of community engagement appropriate for the project 

      1. For project CAB’s, you will need and information sheet detailing the study and the responsibilities. This will need to be approved by your institution’s IRB. 

        1. Template of info sheet 

    3. Example – CHAMP (in-home MH treatment for people with HIV) 

      1. Reif SS, Pence BW, LeGrand S, et al. In-home mental health treatment for individuals with HIV. AIDS Patient Care STDS 2012; 26: 655–661.​

    4. Community engagement reference 

      1. Mitchell, M. J., Riley, C., & Crosby, L. E. (2023). Partnering with Families and Communities to Improve Child Health and Health Equity. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 70(4), 683-693. 

Developing a CAB for a specific topic or research purpose

  1. If your CAB focuses on a specific topic or research purpose, you need to decide what purpose the CAB will serve. Will one organization or project use the CAB’s services? Will other groups have the opportunity to consult with the CAB?  How will the CAB be involved? 

    1. You will need to provide your members with an information sheet or contract to inform them of the expectations and duties of participating on the CAB. Unlike CABs for a specific intervention project, it’s not likely you’ll need to obtain IRB approval. If this group is intended to be a standing group with shared leadership, a MUA (?) may be more appropriate. 

  2. Example – recruiting and retaining older Black patients 

    1. Mitchell J, Perry T, Rorai V, et al. Building and sustaining a community advisory board of African American older adults as the foundation for volunteer research recruitment and retention in health sciences. Ethn Dis 2020; 30(Suppl. 2): 755–764 

  3. Example – diversifying the workforce 

    1. Tobias, B., Glazer, G., & Mentzel, T. (2018). An Academic-Community Partnership to Improve Health Care Workforce Diversity in Greater Cincinnati: Lessons Learned. Prog Community Health Partnersh, 12(4), 409-418. https://doi.org/10.1353/cpr.2018.0066 

Developing a CAB for a specific setting

  1. If you are developing a CAB for a specific setting, you must decide what is the purpose of engaging this the community and how the setting will utilize the CAB. Will the CAB consult with the setting? Will there be shared leadership? Refer to community engagement continuum for guidance if needed. 

    1. You will need to provide your members with an information sheet or contract to inform them of the expectations and duties of participating on the CAB. Unlike CABs for a specific intervention project, it’s not likely you’ll need to obtain IRB approval. If this group is intended to be a standing group with shared leadership, a MOU may be more appropriate. 

  2. Student-Run Free Clinics 

    1. So, M., Nur, A., Keaveny, S. J., Loftus, J., Martin, C., Mohamed, G., & Sick, B. (2022). Centering Community Voices: Establishment of a Community Advisory Board at a Student-Run Free Clinic [Article]. J Health Care Poor Underserved, 33(4), 2032-2041. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2022.0151  

  3. Non-profit 

    1. Patel, A., Hanlon, K., Luo, Q., Finnie, S., Humphries, D., Nunez-Smith, M., & Hansen, L. (2018). Implementing an Effective Community-Based Advisory Board (CAB) at New Haven Farms. 

  4. Community engagement reference 

    1. Mitchell, M. J., Riley, C., & Crosby, L. E. (2023). Partnering with Families and Communities to Improve Child Health and Health Equity. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 70(4), 683-693. 

Developing a CAB for a specific community or population

  1. If you are developing a CAB for a specific population, you must decide what is the purpose of engaging this community and what will the goals of the CAB be? Will you focus on a specific topic of interest to the population?  

    1. You will need to provide your members with an information sheet or contract to inform them of the expectations and duties of participating on the CAB. Unlike CABs for a specific intervention project, it’s not likely you’ll need to obtain IRB approval. If this group is intended to be a standing group with shared leadership, a MOU (memorandum of understanding) may be more appropriate. 

  2. Low-resourced communities in Rio de Janiero 

    1. Milnor JR, Santana CS, Martos AJ, et al. Utilizing an HIV community advisory board as an agent of community action and health promotion in a low-resource setting: a case-study from Nova Iguaçu, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Glob Health Promot 2020; 27: 56–64. 

  3. Refugees  

    1. Miller, A. B., Issa, O. M., Hahn, E., Agalab, N. Y., & Abdi, S. M. (2021). Developing advisory boards within community-based participatory approaches to improve mental health among refugee communities. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 15(1), 107-116. 

  4. Young Black men 

    1. Burns, J., Reeves, J., Adams, M., Darville-Sanders, G., Johnstone, K. A., Jr., Ozuna-Harrison, R., Johnson, K., Ware, D., Shade, G. H., Jr., & Bradley, W. W., Sr. (2022). Young Men's Health Matters: Implementing a Community-Academic Partnership in an Urban Federally Qualified Health Center [Article]. Inquiry (United States), 59, 469580221142488. https://doi.org/10.1177/00469580221142488 

    2. Jemmott LS, Jemmott JB, Lanier Y, et al. Development of a barbershop-based HIV/STI risk reduction intervention for young heterosexual African American men. Health Promot Pract 2017; 18: 110–118. (in barbershops specifically) 

Developing a CAB to operate as consultants

  1. If your CAB are going to consult, you must specify who will consult? Will it only be with identified organizations or will others be able to set up consultation? Will there be consultation fees? How will these fees be used?  

    1. You will need to provide your members with an information sheet or contract to inform them of the expectations and duties of participating on the CAB. Unlike CABs for a specific intervention project, it’s not likely you’ll need to obtain IRB approval. If this group is intended to be a standing group with shared leadership, a charter or MUA (?) may be more appropriate. 

  2. Example 

    1. Matthews, A. K., Newman, S., Anderson, E. E., Castillo, A., Willis, M., & Choure, W. (2018). Development, implementation, and evaluation of a Community Engagement Advisory Board: Strategies for maximizing success. J Clin Transl Sci, 2(1), 8-13. https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2018.13 

Who will be in your CAB?

  1. Your purpose will inform who you will recruit for your CAB.  

    1. The amount of members, demographic breakdown, and lived experience needed will depend on the purpose and intended function of the CAB. Your budget, time, and setting constraints will also influence the size of your CAB. For example, if you need to meet in person, potential members’ location and transportation needs will be important to consider.  

  2. If you are starting in a new community, it takes time to build genuine connections. Building genuine connections within the community allows for greater trust in the CAB process and more meaningful engagement. 

  3. Depending on the project, purpose, and goals, you can recruit rectio 

    1. This can be done in two ways: 

      1. Recruiting multiple boards (e.g., board of youth/patients, board of parents, board of ) 

        1. Richards, A., Raymond-Flesch, M., Hughes, S. D., Zhou, Y., & Koester, K. A. (2023). Lessons Learned with a Triad of Stakeholder Advisory Boards: Working with Adolescents, Mothers, and Clinicians to Design the TRUST Study. Children (Basel), 10(3), 483. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10030483 

      2. Recruiting board members from different groups (e.g.,  

        1. Tobias, B., Glazer, G., & Mentzel, T. (2018). An Academic-Community Partnership to Improve Health Care Workforce Diversity in Greater Cincinnati: Lessons Learned. Prog Community Health Partnersh, 12(4), 409-418. https://doi.org/10.1353/cpr.2018.0066 

Responsibilities and Functions

  1. Responsibilities and functions depend on the purpose and the needs of the community and the researchers. These responsibilities and functions must be explicit and outlined as soon as possible in the CAB development. Use this template to help you decide the functions of your CAB: ___ 

    1. Potential responsibilities 

      1. spearheading community engagement activities related to research 

      2. assisting with study recruitment  

      3. organizing frequent lectures for education for the community 

      4. establishing partnerships with other community organizations 

      5. adapting interventions  

      6. advising on intervention implementation procedures 

      7. providing feedback, e.g.: 

        1. how community events were conducted (e.g. menu items, venue location)  

        2. how to frame health information in a positive and empowering light. 

        3. Language in recruitment materials and assessments to be destigmatizing 

        4. Framing health information in a positive and empowering light 

        5. Integrating community values into the intervention 

        6. Structure of the intervention 

      8. Presenting information and research findings in community settings  

  2. Most common responsibilities for CABs in CTSAs 

    1. Serve as a conduit between the community and the academic institution  

    2. Respond to researchers’ requests for feedback  

    3. Raise awareness about research within their community. 

    4. Advise the community engagement (CE) program and/or CTSAs (less common).  

  3. Most common ways CABs are used in CTSAs in research involvement 

    1. Research consultants 

    2. Grant reviewers 

    3. CE studio or review board experts 

    4. Conference presenters 

    5. Stewart, M. K., Boateng, B., Joosten, Y., Burshell, D., Broughton, H., Calhoun, K., Huff Davis, A., Hale, R., Spencer, N., Piechowski, P., & James, L. (2019). Community advisory boards: Experiences and common practices of clinical and translational science award programs. J Clin Transl Sci, 3(5), 218-226. https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2019.389  

Recruitment

  1. Understanding why people are motivated to join and interested in joining CABs will help you present the CAB in a mutually beneficial way. 

    1. In a 2024 study, people were motivated by family/friend/personal diagnosis, roles as caregivers, desire to impact change and advocacy, role as health professional, and previous participation in research. people were interested in the CAB because of their diagnosis, desire to share their experience, personal positionality, previous research experience, and contributing to the education of students/trainees 

      1. Sotto-Santiago, S., Wiehe, S., Claxton, G., Stamper, G., Delp, L., Hudson, B., Lynch, D., & Moe, S. (2024). “I Am Interested!”: The Voices of the Community and Their Participation in Health Advisory Boards. Health Equity, 8(1), 8-13. 

    2. Benefits of participating in a CAB are networking, access to institutional resources (e.g., library, training, grants), opportunity for recognition 

      1. Stewart, M. K., Boateng, B., Joosten, Y., Burshell, D., Broughton, H., Calhoun, K., Huff Davis, A., Hale, R., Spencer, N., Piechowski, P., & James, L. (2019). Community advisory boards: Experiences and common practices of clinical and translational science award programs. J Clin Transl Sci, 3(5), 218-226. https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2019.389  

  2. Who will be on the CAB 

    1. Research teams should be clear on who is ‘eligible’ to be a part of a particular CAB 

      1. Butterfoss FD. Coalitions and partnerships in community health. San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass, 2007 

    2. Identify gaps that the unique perspectives/lived experiences of potential CAB members may fill – groups with tailored and complementary skillsets are most successful 

      1. Newman SD, Andrews JO, Magwood GS, et al. Community advisory boards in communitybased participatory research: a synthesis of best processes. Prev Chronic Dis 2011; 8: A70. 

  3. How to recruit  

    1. Leverage long-standing, trusted community relationships 

      1. E.g., using physicians to identify patients who would be a good fit for the board / project 

    2. Process of recruitment is iterative, and can involve current CAB members deciding to recruit more people 

    3. Targeted vs. broad recruitment 

      1. Targeted recruitment can mean shared values/mission, more tailored skills 

      2. Open recruitment can bring in unique points of view, higher motivation, and a more democratic process 

    4. Example recruitment emails 

      1. Directly to potential participants 

        1. ****copy email 

      2. To others who can help recruit 

        1. ****copy email 

    5. Prior to recruitment, meet with potential participants to ensure they understand the responsibilities of themselves (CAB member) and the researchers, communication plan, compensation, how feedback will be incorporated 

      1. You can communicate this in a meeting and/or formal commitment letter 

      2. ****find example of commitment letter 

Honorarium

  1. Compensating CAB members for their time and expertise is standard practice. Your budget will help determine the amount of the honoraria, but $25/hour is considered standard practice. Depending on the needs of your community, you may need to budget for childcare, food, transportation, and infrastructure for hybrid meetings. Your budgeting should reflect steps to addressing common barriers for your members. 

    1. Rabinowitz, M., González, I., & Rogers, R. C. (2024). The Equity-Centered Participatory Compensation Model (EPCM): A Tutorial for This Emergent Methodology. Journal of Participatory Research Methods, 5(1). 

  2. Your institution may have rules and standards around how to provide renumeration. For example, you may need to provide the payment through ClinCards, and you may need to collect tax information or have participants complete W9 forms. It is recommended to use secure survey platforms to collect this information and to have these ready before you start recruitment. It is also recommended this information be shared upfront about the requirements. Some community partners may prefer an alternative form of compensation (e.g., paid through organization, paid to a charity). 

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Publications resulting from use of CCTST resources must credit the appropriate CCTST grant by including an NIH Funding acknowledgment: The CCTST at the University of Cincinnati is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program, grant UL1TR001425. The CTSA program is led by the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). The content of this website is solely the responsibility of the CCTST and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

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