Bolstering Capacity for Research Among Villages: A Report from the 2024 Virtual Summits

Team members from the Rutgers Hub for Aging Collaboration recently published a new article in The Gerontologist that presents a framework for strengthening the Village Movement's capacity for healthy aging outcomes research. 

This publication shares high-level findings from the 2024 Virtual Summits, which were organized as part of the multi-year engagement project “Engaging Villages as Key Partners for Healthy Aging Research.” (Check out prior project reports here).

Key Contribution and Findings

This paper sought to create a framework for capacity development toward the design and implementation of outcomes research with Villages as community-based organizations (CBOs). Capacity refers to the attainment of requisite resources to achieve a desired goal. While there has been much enthusiasm for Villages since their founding in the early 2000s, there remains limited research on their potential benefits for people as they age.

The framework posits that there are four core pillars holding up Village research capacity: (1) understanding/motivation for research, (2) partnerships, (3) theorizing on Village interventions and programs, and (4) data systems and research protocols. These four “pillars” represent necessary conditions of capacity for Villages to engage in outcomes research. This metaphor conveys the idea that each theme represents a key aspect of capacity that collectively “lifts” or “holds up” the ability of Villages to engage in the design and implementation of future outcomes research.

These findings are based directly on the voices, experiences, and insights shared by Villages leaders across the United States and beyond during the virtual summits of 2024. Data for the project were primarily from small-group discussion groups that cumulatively engaged about 400 people, with discussion topics such as how Villages influence healthy aging and conditions for high-quality research partnerships. The project was funded through a Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award (#EACB-26583).

PILLARS OF CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT AT-A-GLANCE

Pillar 1: Understanding and Motivation for Research.	Participants demonstrated a broad understanding of the multi-phase nature of research and an appreciation of the wide range of outcomes research could explore. Some Villages were already actively collecting outcomes research. Participants identified potential challenges of organizational capacity and the potential for bias in outcomes research, given the desire for positive results.
Pillar 2: Partnerships	Participants emphasized that collective efficacy on research requires partners (especially in light of organizational capacity limits of individual Villages), and there is a large ecosystem of potential partners on research in the Village Movement. Future research would need to center community-engaged research practices.
Pillar 3: Theorizing Village Interventions and Programs	Interventions emerged in two key ways in relation to Villages: (1) the Village itself as an intervention or program, and (2) interventions or programs embedded within or offered by a Village. Future research would need to take into account both ways Villages are vehicles for innovative interventions on aging.
Pillar 4: Data Systems and Research Protocols	Participants stressed the importance of data resources and protocols (e.g., templates and toolkits) for facilitating future outcomes research, as well as accounting for multi-organizational research design considerations and the accessibility of participation, engagement, and privacy.

Implications and Next Steps

Findings suggest that designing and implementing outcomes research with Villages requires not only human and technical capital, but also social capital and theory development. Especially given Villages’ diverse organizational forms and resources, the framework can help assess readiness for, and address capacity needs, concerning engagement in outcomes research for Villages and similar CBOs.

We look forward to our continued work together, and we thank all who participated in the project that led to this report. Stay connected with us to receive updates on other upcoming reports, and join us in August by Zoom for the launch of a new national research project with Villages: The 2025 National Villages Survey!