Large-scale pain studies risk reduced generalizability when participants do not reflect the linguistic and cultural representation of populations disproportionately affected by chronic pain. Cultural and linguistic adaptations can improve recruitment and retention of non‑English‑speaking participants, yet implementation remains inconsistent and under‑documented. This study aimed to characterize real‑world strategies, barriers, and facilitators encountered by clinical research teams implementing cultural and linguistic adaptations and to develop practical guidance for future studies.

A survey was distributed to 36 NIH‑HEAL–funded studies with evidence of recruiting of non‑English recruitment. Respondents (principal investigators, coordinators, and study staff) reported on cultural and linguistic adaptation methods, resources, experiences, and outcomes. Quantitative items were summarized descriptively, and open‑text responses were analyzed using an iterative descriptive qualitative approach integrating thematic and quantitative findings.

Eighteen surveys were completed and included in the analysis. Three recommendation-based orientations emerged, full, conditional, and reserved endorsement, aligning with differences in motivations, timing, resource allocation, and demographic recruitment success. Common barriers included regulatory delays, translation and database integration costs, and difficulty or shortages of hiring bilingual staff. Key facilitators included embedded linguistic and cultural expertise, alignment between recruitment sites and local demographics, and early, sustained community engagement.

Implementing cultural and linguistic adaptations is feasible but resource‑intensive. Early planning, adequate budgeting, bilingual staffing, strategic site selection, and stakeholder engagement are central to successful recruitment of non‑English‑speaking participants. These findings offer guidance to enhance equity, generalizability, and efficiency in pain‑focused clinical research.

Staff biostatisticians are integral members of multidisciplinary research teams. Their leadership and communication skills are critical for the success of health research enterprises. This study evaluates the impact of a workshop delivered to this component of the clinical and translational research workforce.

Workshops were held at one academic medical center in 2023 and later disseminated across multiple academic medical centers in the CTSA Consortium in 2024. Participants completed pre- and post-workshop surveys assessing confidence across key skill areas and provided demographic data, including years of experience. A six-month follow-up survey evaluated longer-term outcomes for the 2023 participants. Paired and independent t-tests and regression models assessed changes over time, by cohort, and by subgroup.

A total of 92 individuals participated (39 in 2023 and 53 in 2024), with an average of 10.1 ± 7.97 years of experience. Confidence improved across all measured skill areas post-workshop but slightly declined at six-month follow-up, although it remained above pre-workshop baseline levels. The 2023 participants showed greater improvement in handling ethical dilemmas than the 2024 participants (p = 0.038). Satisfaction was high throughout both years, with no significant differences in format preference or recommendation rates. Qualitative feedback emphasized the workshop’s practical relevance and interactive format.

The effective dissemination of this workshop improved biostatisticians’ confidence in key communication and leadership skills across multiple clinical and translational research enterprises. While the training was well received, further research is needed to determine if sustaining gains over time requires a refresher course.

Acute musculoskeletal pain is a common reason for emergency department (ED) care, but ED-based cohorts designed to support chronic pain prevention research remain limited. We evaluated first-year recruitment, retention, and baseline characterization in PREVENT, an ED-based observational cohort of adults with acute musculoskeletal pain.

We analyzed first-year data from PREVENT, conducted in an urban academic ED. Adults with acute neck or low back pain were screened and enrolled during the index ED visit. Feasibility outcomes included screening, eligibility, enrollment, and completion of 1-, 3-, and 6-month follow-up assessments. Baseline measures characterized pain-related cognition, psychological symptoms, function, and social needs. Social needs burden (SNB) was categorized as 0, 1, or ≥2 endorsed domains. Associations between SNB and baseline outcomes were examined using general linear models and Fisher’s exact tests.

Between January 21, 2025 and March 22, 2026, 439 individuals were screened, 81 were eligible, and 46 were enrolled. The most common reason for ineligibility was absence of a qualifying traumatic mechanism. Follow-up completion was 22.5% at 1 month, 13.2% at 3 months, and 17.9% at 6 months; 65% completed no follow-up assessments. At baseline, 58.5% endorsed at least one social need domain. Pain catastrophizing, fear of movement, low pain self-efficacy, maladaptive pain beliefs, and disability were common. Greater SNB was associated with higher pain-related distress, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and disability.

PREVENT demonstrated feasible ED-based recruitment and baseline phenotyping, while identifying retention challenges. Findings support refined follow-up procedures and risk-informed approaches to ED-initiated chronic pain prevention studies.

Community Advisory Groups (CAGs) are used to engage communities in research, yet guidance on optimal structure, function, and sustainability is limited. This study aimed to characterize CAGs affiliated with the Oregon Health & Science University Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Community Program, develop a typology, and evaluate operational strategies and effectiveness.

This qualitative descriptive study of 22 CAGs used CAG documents to identify CAG structure, membership, and operations. Ideal-type analysis identified patterns across cross-cutting factors: scope and specificity, primary function, institutional affiliation, and constituency.

CAGs varied substantially in structure and purpose. Four typologies emerged: (1) Project-based (n = 13) – narrow, study-specific scope, research-focused advisory roles, strong institutional control; (2) Programmatic (n = 3) – broad focus, institutionally embedded scope, strategic guidance across multiple initiatives; (3) Hybrid (n = 3) – intermediate or blended patterns, regional networks combining project-specific and broader oversight; (4) Coalition-style (n = 3) – community-driven, broad scope, decentralized, with diverse local stakeholder representation. Comparative analysis highlighted trade-offs across typologies. Project-based CAGs excelled in targeted implementation support, programmatic CAGs promoted continuity and institutional influence, coalition-style CAGs fostered community ownership and capacity-building, and hybrid models balanced scalability and local control. Formal evaluation of CAG effectiveness was limited across all types.

CAGs within one CTSA displayed heterogeneous structures with designs that aligned with project goals, community context, and available resources. Flexible, purpose-driven approaches to CAGs can enhance engagement, trust, and translational impact. Future work is needed to develop empirically grounded frameworks to guide CAG design, implementation, and sustainability and advance evaluation tools.

Pragmatic trials are designed to test the effectiveness of an intervention in a real-world setting, which requires decentralized enrollment and data collection methods. Communication strategies may play an important role in supporting participant engagement, though evidence describing their implementation and impact in pragmatic trials is limited. The purpose of this study was to describe the impact of various communication strategies with participants on the rate of enrollment, baseline data completion, and retention rates in the Fibromyalgia TENS in Physical Therapy Study (FM-TIPS).

We evaluated enrollment, baseline data completion, and retention in relation to implementation of different communication strategies for FM-TIPS, a cluster randomized pragmatic clinical trial. Communication strategies evolved iteratively over the course of the trial, ranging from automated reminders to reactive and proactive personalized contact by study staff.

Following implementation of the reactive communication plan, enrollment increased from 83% to 92%, and completion of Day 1 research homework increased from 67% to 81%. Following implementation of the proactive participant onboarding approach, including a welcome phone call and email, completion of Day 1 research homework increased to 89%. Retention at later time points improved following the introduction of automated reminders combined with targeted, personalized contact. Additional communication unrelated to enrollment and completion of research homework, such as troubleshooting technical issues, may have contributed to participant retention in the study.

The addition of personalized communication strategies to regular automated reminders was associated with higher enrollment, baseline data completion, and participant retention in a decentralized pragmatic trial.

Research emphasizing community input and participation, here termed “community-focused research,” is increasing in the health sciences literature. Maintaining a community focus may shape methodological choices around data collection, yet little is known about what types of data (primary, secondary; quantitative or qualitative) community-focused researchers use.

Information on data sources and data collection methods were abstracted from the final products from five cohorts of community-focused research teams who participated in Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Interdisciplinary Research Leaders program between 2016 and 2023.

Among 53 total teams with a final product, the vast majority used primary data either alone (74%) or in combination with secondary data (21%). Of the 50 teams who conducted primary data collection, 38% collected only qualitative data, 18% collected only quantitative data, and 44% collected both quantitative and qualitative data.

Primary data collection and qualitative methods were far more common in these community-focused research projects than in the general health sciences literature. The reasons that so many teams chose to collect primary, qualitative data are not known but may reflect a lack of existing data on communities of interest, prioritization of data collection methods that allow for greater community involvement, or research on novel topics for which there are not yet validated quantitative measurement tools. Identifying reasons for these data collection choices may identify opportunities for improving efficiency (e.g., making existing data easier to access) and/or targeting training (e.g., in qualitative data collection) to support community-focused research.

In 2021, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences required Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Pilot Programs to fund translational science (TS), defined as developing generalizable principles to improve efficiency and effectiveness of research. This study assessed approaches used by hubs when implementing the requirement and challenges experienced in doing so.

REDCap surveys were administered in 2024 and 2025 to CTSA Pilot Program directors and managers. Data were summarized descriptively, with qualitative responses analyzed thematically.

Thirteen hubs completed both surveys. Common approaches included emphasizing TS in the call for proposals (92% in 2024, 84% in 2025) and application (92% in 2024, 84% in 2025), meeting with prospective applicants to discuss TS (84% in 2024 and 2025), and using a letter of intent to pre-screen applications (61% in 2024 and 2025). The most common challenge was the need to provide education and training on the difference between TS and translational research (TR) (53% on both surveys). In addition, reports of a decline in the quality and/or quantity of applications increased from 23% in 2024 to 46% in 2025, and fewer than half (46%) of hubs reported that applicants had incorporated TS well into their applications.

CTSA hubs have made progress in operationalizing the TS requirement by adapting processes and providing education. Persistent challenges underscore the need for national training resources, standardized criteria to distinguish TS from TR, and integration of TS competencies into workforce development to sustain implementation and accelerate progress.

The Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients’ Assets, Risks, and Experiences (PRAPARE) is a validated social needs screening tool widely used in primary care but rarely adapted for the emergency department (ED). We evaluated the feasibility of implementing an abridged PRAPARE tool in a high-volume ED using an operational model designed to minimize burden on clinical staff.

From October 2021 to October 2023, trained student volunteers administered an 11-item abridged PRAPARE survey to adult ED patients during waiting-room time, parallel to routine clinical workflows. This retrospective quality improvement analysis evaluated deidentified data from these encounters. Items were selected via multidisciplinary consensus based on local resource alignment and analyzed descriptively.

Of 6,931 patients approached, 683 (9.8%) completed screening. Most identified as non-Hispanic Black (62%) and female (61%). Nearly all (94%) reported at least one unmet social need, and 56% reported three or more. The most common were food insecurity (47%), medication access (39%), and utility insecurity (37%). Substantial proportions also reported transportation barriers (28%), housing instability (27%), unemployment (26%), and feeling unsafe at home (15%). Black patients were overrepresented relative to the ED census (62% vs 40%). Among those with unmet needs, 96% expressed willingness to engage with assistance.

An abridged PRAPARE tool was successfully implemented using a low-burden, volunteer-driven model and identified a high prevalence of unmet social needs. These findings support streamlined screening delivered outside the clinical workflow and offer operational lessons on volunteer staffing, workflow integration, and referral infrastructure.

Despite measurement advances in implementation science, few studies have assessed the psychometric properties of implementation outcome measures in low- and middle-income countries. Reliance on a limited set of tools may constrain understanding. We conducted a psychometric evaluation of brief measures of acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility from the mental health implementation science tools (mhIST) with youth in two NIH-funded HIV prevention and care projects in Africa.

A consortium working group selected items to generate three shortened measures: a 7-item acceptability scale, a 5-item appropriateness scale, and an 8-item feasibility scale. Data drew from the IMARA-South Africa HIV/STI prevention program for adolescent girls (15–19 years) and their caregivers (n = 514) and CombinADO multicomponent intervention for youth living with HIV (10–24 years) in Mozambique (n = 385). We conducted factor analysis to explore dimensionality, test measurement invariance across two independent samples, and assess internal consistency reliability.

Results supported a one-factor model for acceptability imposing metric invariance across samples with reliability ranging from questionable to acceptable (α = 0.64, 0.77). Results also supported a one-factor model for appropriateness imposing metric invariance, though reliability varied (α = 0.73 vs. 0.53). Scalar invariance was not supported, suggesting differences in item interpretation across samples. No clear factor structure emerged for feasibility. Correlations among measures aligned with theoretical expectations.

The brief mhIST measures of acceptability and appropriateness show promise for use in resource-constrained settings, though the feasibility measure may require refinement. Findings contribute to advancing pragmatic measurement approaches in global implementation science.