5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

Increasingly community-engaged research, characterized by collaborations between researchers and community partners, is recognized as an important part of translating research into improved health outcomes and reduced health disparities for community participants. Training community participants to engage in some or all aspects of this research, particularly focusing on socially-vulnerable (e.g., racial and ethnic minority and low income) older adults, highlights the need to understand community engagement's opportunities and challenges. With this symposium, submissions will discuss and reflect on community-engaged and community-based participatory research approaches to community-academic partnerships with socially-vulnerable older adults. Presentations may consider strategies for developing and sustaining partnerships; funding; recruitment, retention, and training of community members and community advisory boards; health education outreach and engagement to improve health outcomes; improved data collection; co-publishing with community members; opportunities, challenges, and implications of community-academic partnerships with socially-vulnerable older adults; etc.