Culturally Based Capacity-Building 2026 - African Immigrants Health Research Consortium

Training overview

The African Immigrant Health Research Collaborative (AIHRC) hosted two virtual 2-day trainings designed to build the knowledge, skills, and confidence of African-led organizations in patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and comparative effectiveness research (CER).

Centering African Culture: Our Approach

Community Grounded Dialogue
Participants were invited into dialogue through culturally rooted practices such as Palava Hut, a traditional practice used in parts of Africa to talk about community issues and find solutions within the community.

Integrated Cultural Practices
AIHRC integrated African cultural elements including music during session and breaks, proverbs to emphasize key concepts, and culturally reflective language and visuals in training materials.

Participant Snapshot: 38 participant from 25 organizations across 11 states

Kikuyu proverb from Kenya - To come out of one's house is learning

Number of Employees Working in the Organization

1-3 Employees: 28%
21-50 Employees: 24%
11-20 Employees: 20%
4-10 Employees: 12%
Volunteers: 8%
More than 500 Employees: 4%

Organizations’ Annual Budget

Less than $50,000: 16%
$50,001 – $100,000: 12%
$100,001 – $250,000: 16%
$250,001 – $500,000: 24%
More than $500,000: 20%
Less than $50,000 and More than $500,000: 4%
$100,001 – $250,000 and More than $500,000: 8%

Organizations’ Years of Existence

1-10 Years: 44%
11-20 Years: 24%
21-30 Years: 20%
30+ Years: 12%

Is the Organization Involved in Research?

No: 40%
Yes: 28%
I don’t know: 12%
Multi-select: 20%

Health and/or Community Issues Organizations Address: Health, Immigration, Poverty Alleviation, Mental Healthcare, Education, Community Development, Housing, Language Access, Advocacy, Leadership & Mentorship

Somali proverb: He who enjoys good health is rich, though he knows it not.

Evaluation Highlights

Evaluation insights were drawn from post-training surveys across two cohorts, capturing participant demographic data, organizations represented, and their experiences of the training.

92%: Agree that Africanized training approach boosted engagement and understanding
91%: Reported increased confidence in research concepts
85%: Plan to apply skills in their work
94%: Agreed that the participant workbook was helpful during the training

Other Ways We Supported Workshop Implementation to Encourage Engagement & Relevance

By the People, With the People: We partnered with trusted community leaders in the existing community spaces to shape the curriculum content, ensuring the learning reflected community priorities and lived realities rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Participants from organizations of interest were also recruited in ways that felt familiar, respectful, and culturally grounded.
Reciprocity & Recognition: We provided stipends to honor participants’ time and expertise, recognizing that attending required them to step away from work, caregiving, and community services. This approach reflected our commitment to reciprocity, valuing participants as contributors and co-builders of knowledge, not just attendees.

African proverb: Until the lion tells the story, the hunter will always be the hero.

This Culturally-Based Capacity Building for African Immigrant Patient Partners program was funded through a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award (EACB-26965). The views, statements, opinions presented in this training are solely the responsibility of the AIHRC community and do not necessarily represent the views of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute® (PCORI®), its Board of Governors or Methodology Committee.