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Community organizations addressing health and human service needs generally have minimal capacity for research and evaluation. As a result, they are often inadequately equipped to independently carry out activities that can be critical for their own success, such as conducting needs assessments, identifying best practices, and evaluating outcomes. Moreover, they are unable to develop equitable partnerships with academic researchers to conduct community-based research. This paper reports on the progress of the Community Research Scholar Initiative (CRSI), a program that aims to enhance community research and evaluation capacity through training of selected employees from Greater Cleveland community organizations. The intensive 2-year CRSI program includes didactic instruction, fieldwork, multiple levels of community and academic engagement, leadership training, and a mentored research project. The first cohort of CRSI Scholars, their community organizations, and other community stakeholders have incorporated program lessons into their practices and operations. The CRSI program evaluation indicates: the importance of careful Scholar selection; the need to engage executive leadership from Scholar organizations; the value of a curriculum integrating classwork, fieldwork, and community engagement; and the need for continual scholar skill and knowledge assessment. These findings and lessons learned guide other efforts to enhance community organization research and evaluation capacity.

Little attention has been given to the cultural competence education needs for researchers.To describe the planning and implementation of a neighborhood visit approach to cultural competency education in the community.A committee of community partners and academics planned, conducted and evaluated the visit. The cultural competence and confidence (CCC) model was used to engage researchers. An evaluation survey assessed participant satisfaction and experiences.Of the 74 attendees 64 (84%) completed the conference evaluation. Attendees expressed that the visit and conference objectives were met and that the content was relevant to their work. Nearly all (95%) responded they would incorporate what they learned into practice.A neighborhood visit approach is feasible and acceptable to researchers and community partners. Evaluation of this community based education program showed preliminary evidence of changing both the way researchers think about the community and conduct research.

To investigate cognitive impairment in older, ethnically diverse individuals with a broad range of kidney function, to evaluate a spectrum of cognitive domains, and to determine whether the relationship between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cognitive function is independent of demographic and clinical factors.Cross-sectional.Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study.Eight hundred twenty-five adults aged 55 and older with CKD.Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR, mL/min per 1.73 m(2)) was estimated using the four-variable Modification of Diet in Renal Disease equation. Cognitive scores on six cognitive tests were compared across eGFR strata using linear regression; multivariable logistic regression was used to examine level of CKD and clinically significant cognitive impairment (scoreor =1 standard deviations from the mean).Mean age of the participants was 64.9, 50.4% were male, and 44.5% were black. After multivariable adjustment, participants with lower eGFR had lower cognitive scores on most cognitive domains (P.05). In addition, participants with advanced CKD (eGFR30) were more likely to have clinically significant cognitive impairment on global cognition (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.0, 95% CI=1.1-3.9), naming (AOR=1.9, 95% CI=1.0-3.3), attention (AOR=2.4, 95% CI=1.3-4.5), executive function (AOR=2.5, 95% CI=1.9-4.4), and delayed memory (AOR=1.5, 95% CI=0.9-2.6) but not on category fluency (AOR=1.1, 95% CI=0.6-2.0) than those with mild to moderate CKD (eGFR 45-59).In older adults with CKD, lower level of kidney function was associated with lower cognitive function on most domains. These results suggest that older patients with advanced CKD should be screened for cognitive impairment.

Fast food consumption has increased dramatically in the general population over the last 25 years. However, little is known about the prevalence and nutritional implications of fast food consumption among patients receiving hemodialysis.By using a cross-sectional study design, we obtained data on fast food consumption and nutrient intake (from four separate 24-hour dietary recalls) and nutritional parameters (from chart abstraction) for 194 randomly selected patients from 44 hemodialysis facilities in northeast Ohio.Eighty-one subjects (42%) reported consuming at least one fast food meal or snack in 4 days. Subjects who consumed more fast food had higher kilocalorie, carbohydrate, total fat, saturated fat, and sodium intakes. For example, kilocalorie per kilogram intake per day increased from 18.9 to 26.1 with higher frequencies of fast food consumption (P = .003). Subjects who consumed more fast food also had higher serum phosphorus levels and interdialytic weight gains.Fast food is commonly consumed by patients receiving hemodialysis and is associated with a higher intake of kilocalories, carbohydrates, fats, and sodium and adverse changes in phosphorus and fluid balance. Further work is needed to understand the long-term benefits and risks of fast food consumption among patients receiving hemodialysis.