Work

270 WomenWise: Bridging translational science, empowerment, and capacity building for patient-centered research on alcohol misuse

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Objectives/Goals: 1. Build a network of stakeholders (WomenWise) empowered as a Community Advisory Board (CAB). 2. Expand knowledge about patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and comparative effectiveness research (CER), specifically related to alcohol use in women. 3. Report facilitators, barriers, and CAB members’ experience with developing WomenWise. Methods/Study Population: Female stakeholders from nonprofit organizations (NPOs), persons and family members with lived experience with alcohol misuse, and health professionals were organized into a CAB (n = 17). CAB members receive education on PCOR/CER and sex-related disparities in alcohol treatment and create resources for large-scale community dissemination. Members will also host partnered learning sessions in their community alongside NPOs to teach the public about alcohol misuse in women and engage in PCOR/CER. Surveys and descriptive statistics assess CAB members’ understanding of educational material, engagement, and project feasibility. A Governance Council of co-investigators, collaborators, patient representatives, and a CAB chairperson oversee project progress and completion. Results/Anticipated Results: Two CAB meetings were completed thus far, with five meetings continuing into the next year. The first two CAB meetings were attended by 14/17 (82%) of members. After receiving education on Research Fundamentals, among those completing the survey (11/14), the knowledge assessments scores were very high. The Governance Council began planning the first large-scale community dissemination symposium to be held in Summer 2025, and three additional CAB meetings will be held before the ACTS conference poster presentation. We will share data on the process to initiate this capacity-building project, PCOR/CER education, stakeholder engagement and feedback, challenges and responses, and overall evaluation of the project’s feasibility and sustainability. Discussion/Significance of Impact: Historically, women have been unrepresented in alcohol misuse research, and studies rarely analyze sex and gender differences. WomenWise, a network of women stakeholders knowledgeable about these disparities and PCOR/CER, will lead efforts to educate community members about alcohol treatment disparities and engage them in future research.

Source: Journal of Clinical and Translational Science

DOI: 10.1017/cts.2024.913