Since the launch of the Kaiser Permanente Research Bank in 2015, the National Community Advisory Board (NCAB) has helped guide its development and ensure community perspectives are included. The NCAB is made up of local leaders from all 8 KP regions. Members come from a wide range of personal and professional backgrounds, including community advocacy, environmental, and public health organizations, social safety-net and labor groups, and academic institutions. This diversity allows NCAB members to offer valuable insights and feedback on questions posed by Research Bank leaders, scientists, and staff. The board typically meets several times a year.
Early Focus: Member Recruitment
From the beginning, KP Research Bank leaders recognized the importance of involving KP members in an advisory role. Explaining the goals and details of Research Bank participation can be difficult, and the NCAB helped address these issues. Until recently, one of the NCAB’s main activities was advising on how best to communicate with KP members about Research Bank participation. This included providing feedback on emails, letters, surveys, and general outreach strategies. The NCAB also played a key role in developing ways to invite participation from members with specific health conditions such as cancer. These ongoing NCAB discussions allowed staff, scientists, and leaders to better address members’ perspectives on KP Research Bank recruitment and enrollment processes.
Shifting Focus: Supporting Scientific Discovery
With nearly 450,000 participants enrolled, the Research Bank is shifting focus from recruitment to supporting scientific research and discovery in many areas. This shift also changes the NCAB’s role.
NCAB members are now working more closely with scientists, providing input on the best and most impactful ways to use the Research Bank resource to improve health. Their focus includes:
- Reviewing research proposals
- Discussing study design and findings
- Advising on how to share scientific results with the broader community
To support these efforts, the NCAB and Research Bank staff are developing guidelines to help scientists best present complex research in ways that are accessible and meaningful to non-scientists. Once these guidelines are complete, they will help support conversations between scientists and the NCAB about proposed research from the KP Research Bank.
