Abstract Body: Introduction: Striking racial inequities exist in stroke treatment, recovery, and survivorship. Health inequities are driven primarily by social determinants of health (SDoH), which are the conditions in which people are bore, live, work, play, and age. The STroke Research Initiative to adVance Equity (STRIVE) is a longitudinal cohort study of stroke survivors and their caregivers that aims to assess the impact of SDoH and experiences of discrimination on stroke recovery. STRIVE utilizes a community-engaged research approach with a community advisory board (CAB) that has been involved in all aspects of the study. We hypothesize that the integration of the CAB will enhance the recruitment and retention of participants and the relevance of the results.

Methods: The CAB consists of twelve stroke survivors and their caregivers that reflect the socioeconomic, race, ethnicity, language, and geographic diversity of the greater Washington, D.C. area. The CAB members are individuals with longstanding trusting relationships with the princial investigator. The CAB has met monthly by Zoom since January 2023. All CAB members, study personnel, and trainee research assistants are given equal opportunity to voice their ideas during Zoom meetings. CAB members are renumerated for their time and expertise at the same rate at study coordinators.

Results: From January 2023 to September 2024, the CAB has co-developed all aspects of STRIVE including setting priorities of what aspects of stroke recovery to assess; selecting the person-centered study outcomes (Stroke Impact Scale and modified Caregiver Strain Index); identifying discrimination as a key driver to assess; choosing the survey platform Qualtrics; and created a stroke recovery resource guide for study participants based on their lived experiences. In 9 months, 46 stroke survivors and 15 caregivers from 3 sites have been recruited to STRIVE with a 93% retention rate.

Conclusion: Integration of a stroke survivor and caregiver CAB in STRIVE study design, recruitment and retention has ensured that the results will be person-centered and relevant not only to clinician researcher, but also to the community. The STRIVE study team encourages our colleagues to leverage the expertise of stroke survivors and their caregivers in current and future studies.