CCHERS is spearheading an innovative initiative focused on frontline, provider-led, patient-centered research through the support of a PCORI Engagement Award (2025–2026). This effort centers on forming a Home Health Aide Research Collaborative (HHA-RC), bringing together 15 home health aides, academic partners from IHESJR, and guidance from CCHERS’ Research Governance Committee. The initiative is evaluated by the Mass League of Community Health Centers’ Institute for Health Equity Research, Evaluation, and Policy.

To date, we have completed three program series – Racial Justice in Research Fundamentals – and four Pre-Workshop sessions, all designed to prepare Home Health Aides for the next phase of the initiative: collaborative workgroups. Home Health Aides will partner with academic researchers to co-create the Home Health Aide Research Collaborative to develop a comparative effectiveness research (CER) agenda.

The project’s overarching goal is to empower frontline workers to lead in advancing health equity and improving patient outcomes. Its specific objectives include:

1. Building comparative effectiveness research (CER) knowledge and skills among home health aides to produce impactful patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR).
2. Expanding cultural literacy and competency among academic researchers to better address the needs of diverse populations.
3. Developing a CER agenda and patient-centered research questions tailored to the health challenges faced by home health aides’ patients.
4. Finalizing tools and compiling lessons learned to promote and sustain CER efforts led by frontline workers.

This initiative represents CCHERS’ commitment to fostering collaboration between frontline providers and academic researchers, advancing research that centers the needs of patients and communities while driving systems-level change.