Adapting the Community Engagement Studio Model to Enhance Scalability

INTRODUCTION: The Community Engagement (CE) Studio is an established approach for integrating community and patient perspectives into research, yet little information is available about how institutions have adapted this innovative model to suit varied organizational contexts, resources, and
needs.

METHODS: We adapted the CE Studio to create a more scalable approach that: 1) requires fewer programmatic and human resources to maintain over time; 2) facilitates capacity building within research teams to conduct future engagement without external support; and 3) leverages virtual technologies. Key adaptations involved shifting to researcher-led recruitment and compensation of community partners, streamlined session planning
and orientation processes, and prioritization of virtual delivery, resulting in the development of a new Community Feedback Session (CFS) service. We implemented the CFS approach at our institution and evaluated it via surveys distributed to CFS attendees and researchers.

RESULTS: Between January 2022 and August 2025, we conducted 46 CFSs across 19 projects engaging 302
attendees. 149 attendees and 34 researchers completed evaluation surveys. Of these, 99% of attendees indicated they would participate again, and 97% of researchers rated the CFS service as Good or Excellent, recommending it to colleagues. Attendees appreciated the structure, facilitation, composition, and size of the sessions, and many had no suggestions for improvement. Researchers described changes they made to projects based on feedback received during CFSs, including amending study protocols, altering intervention content and delivery modalities, and revising a variety of study-related materials.

DISCUSSION: We successfully adapted the CE Studio model to enhance its translational impact and promote scalability across varied research contexts and settings. Evaluation data indicate that our modified CFS approach informs research in an impactful way and provides value to researchers and community partners.