Panel Discussion 5 - Community-academic Partnerships: Lessons Learned

It takes many years to translate a small portion of original research into routine practice settings. Eliminating the large time lag between the development of a novel treatment or treatment adaptation and it being available in routine clinical practice is a key reason for the development of community-academic partnerships. The critical role of community-academic partnerships is recognized in many implementation frameworks and models, yet the nuts and bolts of how to establish these partnerships is much less clear. This expert panel gathers people who have built and sustained community-academic partnerships. As you will hear during this panel discussion and linking to the theme of “Cultivating Joy with CBT”, partnerships are often invigorating and meaningful and partnerships keep the end-goal of research tangible and “front-of-mind” and this is inspiring. The expert panel will share the lessons they have learned across all partnership phases, including exploration, preparation, implementation, and sustainment. The panelists have worked across a diverse range of contexts including the VA, community mental health, residential care, schools, community opioid treatment programs, states (Hawaii) as well an international roll-out. The populations the panelists specialize in is equally diverse and includes child and adult mental health, eating disorders, PTSD, substance use, HIV-prevention, sexual health and relationship skill building. Key lessons learned include: building on community strengths and values, willingness to get out of your comfort zone, setting up a collaborative evidence-based practice implementation plan that accounts for sustainment from the start, incorporating community partners into project design, and accepting and embracing adaptations. Less discussed topics such as project failures and navigating funding demands will also be featured. Implementation and outcome data will be shared, and discussion will occur within the context of larger issues in our field, such as service system design, practice-based evidence, and in the behavioral science ontologies.