Table 4.

Colorado Immersion Training in Community Engagement program reflections – Community Research Liaison track leads and community partners. This table presents key themes and quotes from qualitative analysis of Community Research Liaison (CRL) interviews and responses to open-ended survey questions asked of community partners engaged in Colorado Immersion Training in Community Engagement (CIT) over the 10-year period. LGBTQ = Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer

Finding or theme	Example story or quote
CRL track lead reflections
CRLs develop and execute CIT track-specific activities and curriculum – often like a facilitator, sometimes even facilitating researchers’ painful unlearning of problematic ways of conducting research.	“This is not a show for people to just come and learn about the communities. These have to be serious researchers. They have to prove that really do want to work with community, and they’re not just “drive by.” I don’t use that term loosely. We’re not on display… Sometimes it’s beautiful. My role is [to] move them forward and facilitate their learning. It’s not to judge them. It is hard though to see some of that. My role is also to make sure that they don’t do harm to communities, so making sure that, if something is said or done, we address it immediately.” –Anonymous CRL
CRLs foster an environment of mutual respect and trust – with the goal of promoting high-quality research endeavors and lasting partnerships.	“There was a lot of mistrust towards the University in the beginning, but it was the liaisons who helped earn that trust back. The community that we’ve been working with over the years, gets it. That’s why they’ve been able to and feel comfortable applying for grants or being supportive of the work that we’re doing. … That’s taken some years to develop and to earn that trust, but it’s there now.” -Anonymous CRL
CRLs understand nuanced historical and generational differences in certain populations.	“I see people having cultural conflict honestly with the training, with their education that they’ve had. There are training components that I see them struggle [with], and that maybe they have had some education around maybe certain populations… or no experience with working with a community. I watch them be vulnerable. I watch them be challenged. I’ve heard comments that have been enlightening. I’ve witnessed people crying and checking themselves.” -Anonymous CRL“This is an eye opener… Of course, the researchers have to put themselves in the refugee’s shoes. They do not come with suit and tie and say, “Hey, I’m the researcher. I’m going to analyze your situation.” No, no, no.” -Anonymous CRL
Community partner outcomes
Components needed for continued community–academic relationships	“It was through this relationship that the students, families, and Chicano community became actively engaged with CIT students to experience the actualization of our Freirean Liberatory education model. Understanding that people can be passive recipients of knowledge — whatever the content — or they can engage in a “problem-posing” approach in which they become active participants. As part of this approach, it is essential that people link knowledge to action so that they actively work to change their societies at a local level and beyond.”-Anonymous community partner“Trust level, confidentiality, intentions, and resourcefulness are all important factors to maintaining continued relationships.”-Anonymous community partner“Relationship building takes a lot of time - so a 1 week immersion is wonderful, but continued support for fostering these relationships would be helpful.” - Anonymous community partner“Provide more communication to stay engaged and stay up on what’s new with the CIT and partner organizations.” - Anonymous community partner
Using history, location, and story to understand the past and current healthcare environment	“I worked with CRL to create a tour of LGBTQ history in Denver for their cultural competency. The tour, which focused on the history of LGBTQ healthcare, intersected with stories of non-profits in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Denver. … Our tour looked at the history of the Colorado AIDS Project (CAP) from 1984 - 1987, and yet how CAP lived in the very neighborhood where people were doing survival sex work, how they faced police violence and societal rejection, and how the sexually transmitted infection clinic at Denver Health was one of the few places they could get free/equal access to healthcare. I pulled examples of case studies from how health providers went into gay bath houses and did STI testing, and in Denver’s case how the local group Colorado ACT UP, helped to get attention and funding for HIV/AIDS from 1987 – 1990. … They learned how the space and story were intimate to the healthcare.”-Anonymous community partner
Relationship building and collaboration through experiential activities	“Not only can the CIT programs bring community leaders and researchers together, it can also help keep communities together moving towards more positive and healthy outcomes. That’s because programs like CIT increase collaboration, problem solving, and validate community concerns. The collaboration is that people bring their own knowledge and experience into the process. Training is typically undertaken in small groups with lively interaction and can embrace not only the written word but art, music and other forms of expression in realizing solutions to critical issues.” -Anonymous community partner“Good relationships with the Community Research Liaison and an exceptional opportunity to bring queer history to healthcare.” -Anonymous community partner