Sharing study results with community: An ethical imperative

While returning aggregate study results has become an increasing requirement by funders, researchers lack clear pathways and training to disseminate scientific findings to the broader community. The Penn State Community Health Equity & Engagement in Research (CHEER) team is striving to improve the ways in which research participants and broader populations receive aggregate study findings, with the goals of increasing trustworthiness in research, enhancing health literacy and, ultimately, improving health outcomes.
The CHEER team hosted this engaging ethical dive into challenges and facilitators of lay dissemination. Preliminary qualitative analyses from community-driven focus group data on approaches to translating study results were presented, with actionable next steps for this work.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI). Content is the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the views of the SSRI.