NARCH V - Research for Change: Cross-Site Multi-cultural Community-Based Participatory Research

The CIHR has been awarded a new grant.

Overview:
The causes of health disparities among communities of color and other underserved populations are complex and include social, biological, economic, cultural, and historical factors. A critical step in reducing health disparities among these communities is addressing the mistrust that characterizes community attitudes towards research and to ensure authentic community engagement in improving health. This study will be an in-depth investigation of promoters and barriers to Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) with the goal of improving health status and promoting health equity. Funded through the Native American Research Centers for Health (NARCH), National Institutes for Health (NIH) and Indian Health Service for 2009-2013, this research project will invite the participation of CBPR projects from all NIH Institutes and Centers to participate in a national study design to strengthen the science of how CBPR partnerships can reduce health disparities.
Aims of “Research for Change”: 1) Assess the variability of CBPR processes to identify common promising practices and characteristics, and differences across contexts (ethnic/racial, urban/ rural, sovereign nations/other leadership, health issue); and
2) Study associations among promising processes, and select system and capacity outcomes which were identified because of their links to improved health and reduced disparities.
Data Collection Strategies and Methodologies: CBPR sites across the country will be invited to participate at different levels: as part of the mixed method data collection, as participating projects in the multi-site leadership group, and as part of a national Community of Practice open to a wider audience of CBPR interested researchers and practitioners.

NARCH V - Research for Change - continued...

Collection methods include: 1) A survey questionnaire of 80 CBPR projects, nationally, with an invitation to all NARCH, NCMHD, NIDA, NCI, and other CBPR projects with two years’ history. Conducted and analyzed on two levels: the partnership, and individuals within partnerships to better understand how the sites and partners have used CBPR. Dependent variables include community capacities, policy change,sustainability, health outcomes and disparities. Independent variables include context, and group dynamics on a structural, individual and relational level. 2) Key Informant Interviews within the 80 sites designed to primarily assess factual characteristics of the overall partnership. Two leaders will answer the instrument although they may need to contact other members of the partnership for detailed information.
3) Vignettes development for survey instrument because there are insufficient or no measures of core community-level
CBPR constructs of context, such as level of historic trauma in a community, level of activism, or level of trust between academic and community partners. To create culturally-specific and concrete measures, we will adopt a vignette methodology
to fill this measurement gap.
4) Multiple-case study design of eight CBPR sites to probe similarities and differences across key contexts and processes allowing both experiential and empirical inquiry in order to deepen understanding of the variability of meaning, perception and interpretation of differences/
commonalities across the CBPR research model. Model in: *Wallerstein, Oetzel, Duran, Tafoya, Belone, Rae, "What Predicts Outcomes in CBPR: Community Based Participatory Research for Health, From Process to Outcomes, 2nd edition,
(Minkler and Wallerstein, eds). San Francisco,Jossey Bass 2008