Lessons learned in using community-based participatory research to build a national diabetes collaborative in Canada
The Canadian First Nations Diabetes Clinical Management Epidemiologic (CIRCLE) study documents the clinical management of type 2 diabetes in 19 First Nations (FN) communities. CIRCLE is Canada’s first ever national, multisite, CBPR project. This paper presents the lessons learned in developing and advancing CIRCLE community health partnerships by examining the challenges and facilitating factors associated with building collaborative relationships, culture and ethics, collaboration and partnership, and innovative avenues of data management and dissemination. This paper reveals how CIRCLE exemplifies a successful national network of CBPR partnerships and how it can serve as a model for other national community health partnerships….
Finding middle ground: negotiating university and tribal community interests in community-based participatory research
In this article the authors describe challenges of implementing CBPR in a research project designed to prevent cardiovascular disease among an indigenous community in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, and the ways they addressed them. Specifically, they highlight the process of collaboratively constructing a Research Protocol/Data Sharing Agreement and qualitative interview guide. Mohammed, S. A., Walters, K. L., LaMarr, J., Evans-Campbell, T., & Fryberg, S. (2012). Finding middle ground: negotiating university and tribal community interests in community-based participatory research. Nursing Inquiry, 19(2), 116-127. Full Text.
Clinical and translational research and community engagement: Implications for researcher capacity building
This paper presents a study on how clinical and translational research is defined and perceived by community service providers, and how the perspectives of service providers may hinder or facilitate collaborative research efforts. The study found that cultural disconnects between researchers and community partners exist, as does mistrust, which serve as potential barriers to community research partnerships. The authors conclude that engaging in research partnerships requires a reframing of how researchers interact with the broader community, and that researcher training and capacity building is necessary to prepare researchers to successfully work with communities. Martinez, L. S., Russell, B., Rubin, C….
Institutionalization of community partnerships: The challenge for academic health centers
The Center for Community Health Partnerships (CCHP) at the Medical University of South Carolina is a proactive initiative to institutionalize commitment to community-academic partnerships. This report describes the evolution of this Center, and highlights innovative strategies and lessons learned. Magwood, G. S., Andrews, J. O., Zapka, J., Cox, M. J., Newman, S., & Stuart, G. (2012). Institutionalization of community partnerships: The challenge for academic health centers. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 23(4), 1512-1526. Full Text.
Doing Participatory qualitative research: development of a shared critical consciousness with racial minority research advisory group members
An essential part of CBPR projects are research advisory groups (RAGs) consisting of members of the community researched. In this paper, the authors discuss their engagement with a RAG consisting of racialized minority youth. The authors describe insights that emerged during this engagement, including the benefits of a shared dialogical process, the development of a shared critical consciousness, and reflecting on contradictions with in CBPR projects. Finally, the authors offer helpful recommendations for how CBPR projects can enhance their collaboration with RAGs. Maiter, S., Joseph, A. J., Shan, N., & Saeid, A. (2013). Doing participatory qualitative research: development of a…
Laying the Foundation for youth HIV prevention in the Black church
In this article, a research team consisting of academic and community partners describe the process they used to successfully implement an adolescent-focused, evidence-based HIV/AIDS prevention curriculum in two Black churches. The authors highlight the challenges encountered and lessons learned in using a CBPR approach to build a relationship with two churches, garner the pastor’s support, and implement the curriculum within youth groups. Lightfoot, A. F., Woods, B. A., Jackson, M., Riggins, L., Krieger, K., Brodie, K., … Howard, D. (2012). “In my house’: Laying the foundation for youth HIV prevention in the Black church. Progress in Community Health Partnerships, 6(4),…
Revitalizing south Memphis through an interdisciplinary community-university development partnership
This article describes how the University of Memphis formed and maintained a long-term partnership with a community development corporation in an historic African-American community to collaborate on community revitalization. By first providing a background on the community of South Memphis and the development of the partnership, the article aims to fill the gap in literature on the benefits and challenges of interdisciplinary action-oriented research while offering insightful practices and principles on these topics. Lambert-Pennington, K., Reardon, K.M., & Robinson, K.S. (2011). Revitalizing south Memphis through an interdisciplinary community- university development partnership. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Spring 2011, 59-70….
Balancing head and heart: The importance of relational accountability in community-university partnerships
In this paper, the authors reflect on a community-university research and program development project undertaken with Aboriginal people in Canada, and suggest that a “head and heart” approach was crucial to the project’s success. They explain how a “head and the heart” approach to engaged scholarship provides access to an ethical space where multiple worldviews are recognized and where the importance of relational accountability becomes evident. Finally, implications of this approach for engaged scholarship are examined. Kajner, T., Fletcher, F., & Makokis, P. (2012) Balancing head and heart: The importance of relational accountability in community-university partnerships. Innovation in Higher Education,…
International perspectives on community-university partnerships
This volume of Metropolitan Universities Journal includes 11 papers on community-university partnerships. International perspectives from the United States, Australia, Great Britain, Brazil, Korea, Indonesia, Kenya, and Sudan are featured in this volume. International perspectives on community-university partnerships. Metropolitan Universities Journal, 22(2).
Expectations and realities of engaged scholarship: Evaluating a social economy collaborative research partnership
The British Columbia–Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) brings together scholars and practitioners to better understand the social economy and contribute to the development of a social economy research network in western Canada. This paper evaluates the dynamics of engaged scholarship within BALTA, examining internal (academic and practitioner research partnerships) and external (research process) aspects of the alliance. The authors present their findings, and in conclusion assert that funding agencies, universities, and community organizations must realize the value of engaged scholarship by collaborating to create reliable and equitable forms of support and engagement. Heisler, K., Beckie, M., & Markey, S….
Participatory partnerships for social action and research
This book contributes to the growing literature on community-university partnerships, featuring accounts from faculty, administrators, students, and community members on their work in engaged scholarship. Organized into 21 chapters, each one contains an introduction, a case study, and commentary. This resource is useful to incorporate into undergraduate or graduate courses to broaden research methods, principles, and strategies. Harter, L.M., Hamel-Lambert, J., & Millesen, J.L. (Eds.). (2011). Participatory partnerships for social action and research. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Press.
Building effective community-university partnerships: Are universities truly ready?
Partnerships are crucial for effective engaged scholarship. This paper explores reflections by students, faculty, and a community partners on the process of establishing a long-term community-university partnership by integrating a service-learning component into a doctoral program in Community Psychology. Assessing university readiness in the pre-partnership stage and ensuring that scholars and their institutions are willing and able to engage in partnerships were the main reflections in establishing long-term partnerships. A practical framework on collaboration readiness (measuring contextual factors, between-group factors, and in-group factors) is offered to guide community-university partnership development. Eckerle Curwood, S., Munger, F., Mitchell, T., Mackeigan, M., &…
Using relational dialectics to address differences in community-campus partnerships
Relational dialectics can be used as a framework to approach tensions that that naturally and normally arise in community-campus partnerships. This article explains relational dialectics and presents the ways in which three common dialectical tensions work in campus-community partnerships. The authors offer ways in which partners can manage tensions and also discuss the implications of using relational dialectics for competency building, engagement practice, and research on community-campus partnerships. Dumlao, R.J., & Janke, E.M. (2012). Using relational dialectics to address differences in community-campus partnerships. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 16(2), 151-175. Full Text.
Getting started in CBPR: Lessons in Building Community Partnerships for new Researchers
What skills do researchers need to form successful CBPR partnerships? This article describes the key steps in starting, maintaining, and sustaining CBPR projects. The author addresses many important topics, from pre-research themes like how to set up a community advisory board, to post-research issues such as time concerns for tenure-track faculty. Considering CBPR is a recognized approach to effectively tackle health inequities, it is crucial that researchers have the necessary skills to initiate and cultivate partnerships. D’Alonzo, K.T. (2010). Getting started in CBPR: Lessons in building community partnerships for new researchers. Nursing Inquiry, 17(4), 282-288. Full Text.
Sustaining Community-university partnerships: Lessons learned from a participatory research project with elderly Chinese
As the oldest and largest Asian-American subgroup, Chinese-American elderly report the worst mental health of any other group in the US and have the highest risks of depression. This article uses a conceptual framework for sustainability to explore the challenges of sustaining a community-university partnership during a CBPR project with an elderly Chinese population in Chicago. The authors discuss the background of CBPR in health sciences, the use of CBPR in the Chinese community, and strategies and lessons learned from the community-university partnership. Dong, X., Chang, E., Simon, M., & Wong, E. (2011). Sustaining community-university partnerships: Lessons learned from a…
Improving Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Health
In principle, CBPR projects and partnerships aim to be equitable and reciprocal. However, only a few cases exist in literature in which the community partners are leading the research process as academics play a supporting role. This paper describes the cases of two non-academic national organizations that have lead research efforts, utilizing “distinct but complimentary strategies pertaining to research and data” (Cook, 34). The authors argue that these cases may exemplify a unique paradigm for CBPR, in which non-academic national organizations can partner with smaller community-based organizations in research projects. The paper concludes that promoting community-driven research requires flexible funding…
Transformational Partnerships: A new agenda for higher education
A transformational partnership is one based on “genuine engagement and a focus on common goals and mutual benefits” (Butcher, 29). This article first compares transformational partnerships to transactional partnerships and then presents a case study of the Australian Catholic University and the Parramatta Catholic Education system partnership. The authors examine the transformational ways the partners collaborated on a number of initiatives, and provide insight into the development, sustainability, and success of transformational partnerships. Butcher, J., Bezzina, M., & Moran, W. (2010). Transformational partnerships: A new agenda for higher education. Innovative Higher Education, 36, 29-40. Full Text.
Translating Community-Based Participatory Research Principles into Practice
Research partners from the University of Pittsburgh, the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, and the House of Ruth Maryland, one the nation’s leading domestic violence centers, joined together to design, implement and evaluate a series of activities to increase local CBPR capacity. Two workshops held for both academic and community members to explore how to put CBPR principles into practice are described in this article. Workshop participants interpreted and revised CBPR principles into common language through consensus, and provided a range of actions for putting principles into action. The article concludes that translating CBPR principles into common,…
Community-university engagement: the Philippi CityLab in Cape Town and the Challenge of collaboration across boundaries
This paper interrogates the literature on the role of universities in society, with a specific focus on university-community partnerships, and discusses the experience of the Philippi CityLab in Cape Town, South Africa to shed some light on the complexities, challenges and rewards of university-community interactions. The case of the Philippi lab confirms many of the pre-requisites for “successful” collaboration between universities as identified in the literature. This case also shows that stakeholders should not be naïve about the time, effort, and investment which these kinds of engagements require, and the difficulty of establishing and sustaining mutually beneficial university-community collaborations.Brown-Luthango, M….
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