Community-Engaged Research:
Combining Scientific Rigor & Community Participation
February 17, 2012
Why community-engaged
research?
•
Persistence of disparities, Importance of local/cultural
context
•
Greater demand by communities for equity and research
relevance- history of abuse/mistrust
Limitations of current research approaches to address
‘translational blocks’
•
•
Growing appreciation of the value of partnerships,
Community-engaged research movement
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Some community perceptions
• It’s called ‘Helicopter Research.’ They flew in, took our personal info,
took off. We never got anything back.
• The academics got a grant for reducing smoking but what we’re really
concerned with is gun and gang violence.
• Did they need to do that big long study to ‘prove’ what we already
knew?
• The professor can’t just walk in with the expectation of creating a
partnership. It takes time to understand each other and make sure we
won’t be exploited.
• I get calls from students every week. They want to interview me, have
access to my clients, help them with a class or a paper. I don’t have
time.
What is community-engaged
research?
• Approach characterized by collaborative partnership
development, cooperation & negotiation, & commitment to
addressing local health issues
• Broad spectrum:
– Some incorporate few elements of comm.
engagement/minimal collaboration
– others involve comm. orgs & researchers as equal partners
in all aspects of the research
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Spectrum
Inform
Consult
Involve
Collaborate
Empower
Defining Community-Based Participatory
Research (CBPR)
A collaborative approach to research that
equitably involves all partners in the research
process and recognizes the unique strengths that
each brings. CBPR begins with a research topic
of importance to the community and has the
aim of combining knowledge with action and
achieving social change...”
~W K Kellogg Community Health Scholars Program
CBPR embraces greatest degree of relationship building,
comm. partnership & collaboration
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Principles of CBPR: Maximum
Engagement
 Builds on strengths & resources within community
 Facilitates collaboration in all phases of research
 Commitment to addressing local health issues
 Brings knowledge gathering & action together for mutual
benefit of all partners
 Academics & community learn together –both are empowered
 Disseminates findings to all partners
Israel BA, EngE, Schulz AJ, and Parker EA eds.
(2005) Methods in community-based participatory research for health. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA
Community-Engaged Research:
What it is and isn’t
• An Orientation to research : changes the role of researcher and
researched
– How can you tell if research is community-placed or
community-engaged?
– Who makes the decisions? Who holds the power? Choice of
issue/design, gets money, owns data, dissemination venues
• Not a method or set of methods
– Typically thought of as qualitative
– Fewer other examples, but promising
• Goal is to influence change in community conditions, norms,
systems, programs, policies
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Benefits of Community-Engaged
Research
• Research agenda (diversity of topics)
• Research design and delivery (tools, recruitment)
• Research ethics (consent, ethical acceptability)
• Impact on communities (CBOs, participants)
– Enhancing effectiveness of interventions
– System change outcomes (policy change, practice/program changes,
community capacity and empowerment)
• Impact on faculty
• Impact on broader community/practice
Growing Legitimacy of CEnR
• Increasing attention and visibility
– Focus of Federal Agency working groups, evidence reports,
summits, white papers
– Required element in some large institute/center grants
– Growing funding from federal and private funders
• Increasing inclusion in training
– IOM named CBPR as 1 of 8 new competencies recommended
for all health professional students
– Post-doctoral fellowships/Job announcements
• Active research community:
– CBPR listserv
– Journal articles, theme issues, reports, new journals
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Current Reality of Partnerships
• “Community engagement buzz” in higher ed/funding circles
• Predominant model NOT partnership- mostly initiated by
academics
• Relationship btwn partners largely based on individuals &
funding- NOT institutionalized
• Often assumption by academics/funders/policymakers that
community groups NEED academia
• Communities realizing their power to make the rules
• Big differences between mature & early partnerships
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Community Engagement in
Research Phases
• Find partners/form team
• Form research questions
• Planning study
• Conducting research
• Analyzing data
• Sharing findings
• Taking action
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Community-engaged research
is not for everyone
• Challenging:
– time-consuming- long-term
relationships/commitment
– not as many funding/publishing opportunities
– pay for your colleagues’ errors
• Not about recruitment and retention. Is
about relationship-building
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How do you find & connect
with partners?
 Use your contacts- who do you already know?
 Ask your colleagues- they can serve as mentors
 Learn about Chicago communities- Pavement &
‘Google’
 Build alliances w/other academics w/similar
interests
 Seek assistance from CCE/ARCC
Figure out if these are partners
you want to work with?
• What are you looking for in a partner? What’s the purpose for the
partnership?
• Get to know them
– Honest conversation about agendas, needs, wants
– Is this someone you want to work with/’click’ with?
– Are they interested in the same things- content & working style?
• What other partners/collaborators need to be at the table or part of
the partnership?
Set the Stage for Healthy
Partnership
• Build trust- get to know each other, socialize, sweat
equity, humour
• Communicate early, well, & often- which methods work,
what language is being used
• Allow time for decision making- how will decisions be
made, who makes decisions, who is consulted, who is
informed, will decision making responsibilities be
rotated
Things to consider for
students/faculty
• What does it mean to do this work as a student?
– Benefit to student, benefit to community, motivation
• What are challenges for students?
– Compressed timeline, short-term (?) relationship, limited
mentors, lack of funding, academic policies
• Do you develop new relationships as a student or try to work
on a team with faculty or existing NU relationship?
– Don’t work alone- work/connect with other academicslocally and nationally. Find mentors.
• Think about Graduation and Promotion & Tenure from the
beginning- document document
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Learning to do this work
• What are the skills/competencies you
need to do this work?
• How do you gain them?
Alliance for Research
in Chicagoland
Communities
Mission: Growing equitable and collaborative
partnerships between Chicago area Communities
and Northwestern University for Research that leads
to measurable improvements in community health.
Strategic Focus Areas
Participatory Governance
Partnership Facilitation
Capacity-Building
Fiscal Support
Institutional Change
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Logan Square
Neighborhood Association
Chicago Youth
Programs
Greater Humboldt Park
Community of Wellness
Westside Health Authority
Apostolic Faith Church
Chinese Mutual
Aid Association
Healthcare Consortium
of Illinois
ARCC STEERING COMMITTEE
Roberto Clemente Wildcats
Student Health Center
Centro Romero
Coalition of Limited English Speaking Elderly
Asian Health Coalition
Northwestern Faculty: Rebecca Ford-Paz, PhD, Ruchi Gupta, MD MPH,
Bill Healey, PT, Ed D, GCS, Darby Morhardt MSW LCSW, Karen Sheehan MD MPH,
Melissa Simon MD MPH, David Victorson, PhD
Government Agencies: Chicago Department Of Public Health,
Chicago Public Schools
Community Campus Coordinators:
Gina Curry & Josefina Serrato
Leadership: Jen Kauper-Brown, MPH,
Virginia Bishop, MD MPH, Maryann Mason, PhD
Diverse organizations > Diverse Needs
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Upcoming ARCC events
• March 7: Town Hall Forum and Workshop on
Collaborative Data Analysis
• April 10: Workshop on Writing/Publishing
about Community-Engaged Research
• May: CERC Poster Session and Keynote
Presentation
Local Connections
Chicago Consortium for Community
Engagement
Chicago CBPR Network
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chicago_CBPR_Network/
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Resources
Community-Campus Partnerships for Health www.ccph.info
 Resources
 Skill-Building Online Curriculum:
www.cbprcurriculum.info
 Listservs
 IRB and Ethics
 Promotion and Tenure
Journal: Progress in Community Health Partnerships
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www.ARCConline.net
Jen Kauper-Brown, MPH
Director, Alliance for Research in Chicagoland
Communities
312-503-1942
E-mail: j-kauper-brown@northwestern.edu