Building relationships to connect cancer researchers with community members: 'bench to community pipeline'.

PURPOSE: Partnerships between researchers and community members and organizations can offer multiple benefits for research relevance and dissemination. The goal of this project was to build infrastructure to create bidirectional relationships between University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center (UWCCC) researchers and community educators in the Division of Extension, which connects the knowledge and resources of the university to communities across the state. METHODS: This project had three aims: (1) create linkages with Extension; (2) establish an in-reach program to educate and train researchers on the science of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE); and (3) identify and facilitate collaborative projects between scientists and communities. Survey and focus group-based needs assessments were completed with both researchers and Extension educators and program activity evaluations were conducted. RESULTS: Most Extension educators (71%) indicated a strong interest in partnering on COE projects. UWCCC faculty indicated interest in further disseminating their research, but also indicated barriers in connecting with communities. Outreach webinars were created and disseminated to community, a "COE in-reach toolkit" for faculty was created and a series of "speed networking" events were hosted to pair researchers and community. Evaluations indicated the acceptability and usefulness of these activities and supported continuation of collaborative efforts. CONCLUSION: Continued relationship and skill building, along with a sustainability plan, is critical to support the translation of basic, clinical, and population research to action in the community outreach and engagement context. Further incentives for faculty should be explored for the recruitment of basic scientists into community engagement work.

Self-efficacy and cooking confidence are associated with fruit and vegetable intake in a cross-sectional study with rural women.

BACKGROUND: In comparison to their urban and suburban counterparts, midlife and older rural women are less likely to consume adequate fruit and vegetables (F&V). The present study aimed to examine the relationships between psychological, social, and environmental factors and F&V intake among midlife and older rural women in the United States. METHODS: This cross-sectional study utilized data from 513 midlife and older rural women (mean age = 67.0, mean BMI = 26.8) living in 22 states. Linear regression models were used to examine the associations between women's daily F&V intake and cooking confidence, healthy eating self-efficacy, perceived stress, healthy eating social support, and perceived food environment. RESULTS: Cooking confidence (p < 0.001) and healthy eating self-efficacy (p < 0.001) were positively associated with F&V intake. Perceived stress, healthy eating social support, and perceived food environment were not associated with F&V intake (p > 0.05). When all the independent variables were analyzed simultaneously, only healthy eating self-efficacy remained positively associated with F&V intake (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Findings from our study provide important information on the influences of rural women's healthy eating self-efficacy and cooking confidence on their F&V intake. Our results may be useful to inform and evaluate targeted strategies to improve the dietary health of rural women.