These recommendations emphasize shared decision-making, resourcing and compensation, and recognition of community expertise.
4. Recognize Community Expertise
Patients and community members bring valuable expertise rooted in lived experience, cultural knowledge, community leadership, neighborhood history, and firsthand experience navigating institutions and their communities. Recognizing community expertise involves moving beyond consultation toward elevating community leadership and expertise.
Elevating community leadership and expertise extends beyond symbolic representation or advisory participation by creating meaningful opportunities for community members to influence priorities, decisions, and outcomes. Effective community-academic partnerships are supported by structures that position community knowledge, leadership, and decision-making as essential.
“For so long, our voices weren’t heard in hospitals. To see our experiences turned into real policies — it felt like we mattered, like we were finally seen as experts.”
— Yale School of Medicine community member
5. Compensate and Resource Community Partners
Compensation, resources, and recognition are not an incentive for participation. They are a reflection of appreciation, respect, and the value placed on patient and community expertise and contribution. Fair and timely compensation is a critical component of community-academic partnerships. It can strengthen engagement and trust by signaling that community expertise, time, contributions, and leadership are valued.
Community-academic partnerships can also create opportunities for recognition, professional growth, and mutual benefit. Sharing opportunities, visibility, and recognition in ways that align with community partners’ interests, goals, and priorities further supports meaningful and sustainable participation.