Say hello to the newest member of the practice-based research network (PBRN) family, PEACHnet! 





Anne Nederveld, MD, MPH                     Elena Broaddus, PhD
PEACHnet DIrector                                 PEACHnet Research Assistant

Led by Anne Nederveld, MD, MPH and Assistant Professor, and Elena Broaddus, PhD and Professional Research Assistant, PeachNet is expanding the Department of Family Medicine’s PBRN reach into the Western Slope. 

A fledgling idea during Anne’s fellowship, “We discussed the low amount of PBRN involvement in western Colorado as well as the enormous amount of good work being done to improve health in western Colorado communities. After living in western Colorado for over a decade, I also realized that needs and culture are different here and that a network similar to the High Plains Research Network in eastern Colorado would make sense.”

For the past year, Anne and Elena have been focusing on engaging with people across western Colorado – from small ranching centers to ski towns to semi-urban areas like Grand Junction.  To solicit initial feedback from communities, PEACHnet used a technique called Photovoice to gain insight into topics for consideration for research or intervention by asking participants to take pictures of detractors or promoters of health in their communities.  Participants then brought the images to a meeting and explained why they chose the image.  This process helped identify the top five topics in each community, which are being ranked by community members and will determine PEACHnet’s first research focus. 

PEACHnet recently identified their advisory board and plan to work with them to determine the questions they need to ask in their research.  “We plan to revisit several of the communities to meet with organizations and individuals already working in the topic area, deepening our partnerships and developing the foundation for a truly community engaged research project.”

Learn more about PEACHnet.