Research With Appalachia
Research with — not on — Appalachia
Why “With” Matters
Appalachian communities have often been studied from the outside. Appalachian Access wants to help build a different model.
Research with Appalachia means that community members are not treated simply as populations to observe. It means researchers listen before they design. It means local knowledge, lived experience, culture, trust, healthcare realities, and community priorities are treated as meaningful parts of the research process.
When appropriate, Appalachian residents should have opportunities not only to participate in research, but also to help shape the questions being asked, identify barriers researchers may be missing, inform study design, contribute to interpretation, and help determine what findings actually mean for Appalachian communities.
Our goal is to help create rigorous, community-informed and community-engaged research where researchers, healthcare partners, universities, organizations, and Appalachian residents can work together.
Appalachian Access is building a bridge between Appalachian communities and researchers working to better understand rural health, healthcare access, aging, chronic disease, behavioral health, specialty-care barriers, clinical research participation, and other issues that affect our region.
Appalachian Access hopes to help researchers develop community-informed research questions and study designs while giving Appalachian residents opportunities to learn about and potentially participate in future research.
For community members
Interested in Future Research Opportunities?
Join the Appalachian Access Research Interest List.
Joining the list does not enroll you in a research study or require you to participate. It simply lets Appalachian Access know that you may be interested in hearing about future research, advisory opportunities, interviews, focus groups, community-engaged projects, or approved studies that may become available.
For researchers
Interested in Research Collaboration?
Appalachian Access is interested in collaborating with universities, investigators, healthcare systems, organizations, and research teams seeking to conduct respectful, community-informed work in Appalachia. Our guiding principle is simple: research with — not on — Appalachia.
Collaboration should aim to include community perspectives in research questions, study design, recruitment approaches, interpretation, dissemination, and implementation whenever appropriate. Appalachian Access does not provide access to patients or data, and does not replace IRB review, HIPAA obligations, informed consent, or any other research regulation or oversight requirement.
Start a collaboration conversationCurrent research opportunities
No research studies are currently recruiting through Appalachian Access.
Approved research opportunities may be listed here in the future.
Joining the Research Interest List does not enroll you in a study.