This paper presents a systematic review of the CBPR literature that was conducted to examine the effectiveness of current CBPR intervention studies in creating positive change in target communities. The findings showed that collaboration among community partners, researchers, and organizations led to community-level action to improve the health and wellbeing and to minimize health disparities, and also enhanced the research of leadership capacity of the community. Based on their review, the authors recommend that future assessments of CBPR projects evaluate not only health outcomes, but also “how much the target community has been empowered.”

Salimi, Y., Shahandeh, K., Malekafzali, H., Loori, N., Kheiltash, A., Jamshidi, E.,…Majdzadeh, R. (2012). Is community-based participatory research (CBPR) useful? A systematic review on papers in a decade. International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 3(6), 386-393. Full Text.