Community-Engaged Research

Community-engaged research is a process that incorporates input from people who the research outcomes will potentially impact and aims to involve these individuals or groups as equal partners throughout the research process. This involvement may include co-designing research questions to solve problems, making decisions, influencing policies, and creating programs and interventions informed by their lived experiences.

Partnerships with communities cover a spectrum of community-based, community-engaged, and community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches, such as:

Youth Participatory Action Research ([Y]PAR) involves youth and adults in responsible, challenging, and collective action that seeks to benefit an organization or larger community. All individuals in the partnership have the opportunity to engage in planning, decision making, and action consistent with their own interests and skill [Zeldin and Collura 2010].

Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) is a collaborative research approach that is designed to ensure and establish structures for participation by communities affected by the issue being studied, representatives of organizations, and researchers in all aspects of the research process to improve health and well-being through taking action, including social change. [AHRQ] Formal CBPR includes the application of 10 key principles [Israel 2013], the primary distinction between this and other approaches is that community members lead the development of research questions, the research process, and dissemination of findings [Wallerstein, et. al. 2017].

Community-Based Research (CBR) in public health focuses on inequities through active involvement of community members and stakeholders (e.g. partners). Partners contribute their expertise to enhance understanding of a given phenomenon and to integrate the knowledge gained with action to benefit the community involved [Israel, et. al 1998]. In CBR, the institutional researcher works to invert some conventional power dynamics in research by involving partners in the development of research questions and the conduct of research, but typically leads the research process and retains decision-making power.

Community-Placed Research (CPR) conducts “research in a community as a place or setting—in which community members are not actively involved—versus conducting research with a community as a social and cultural entity with the active engagement and influence of community members”. [Israel, et. al 1998]

Community engagement in research enables ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS and COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS to collaboratively*:

• Ask questions that are meaningful to community members;
• Develop and evaluate effective programs for community organizations;
• Design meaningful and effective community interventions that are culturally and linguistically appropriate for communities;
• Increase the validity within the study by improving accuracy of measurements;
• Conduct research that can be implemented in partnership with the studied communities;
• Demonstrate effectiveness of programs for future funding opportunities; and
• Increase legitimacy of work among funders, policy-makers and other stakeholders.

* [Yale School of Medicine ERIC]

GETTING STARTED

UW Epi “Standard Operating Procedures for Researchers Conducting Community-Based Projects”

Human subjects (IRB/HIPAA), finance, relationship maintenance/management, expectations for communication, research practice, timeline, human subjects for community partners, COI training

TRAINING

• Community-Engaged and Community-Based Participatory Research (UW subscribed training module) – Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program)
• Community partner human subjects training – University of Illinois Chicago Center for Clinical and Translational Science
• Introduction to Community-Based Participatory Research – Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium Office of Community Outreach & Engagement (OCOE)
  • The course is hosted on the Hutch Learning website. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center employees and affiliates can search “CBPR” on Hutch Learning website or contact enddisparities@fredhutch.org for access.

FURTHER READING

Tips for Inclusive Community-Engaged Research – NIH Community Engagement Alliance

• Community-Based Participatory Research Handbook – Yale University
• Community-Engaged Research with Community-Based Clinicians: A Resource Manual for Researchers – University of California San Francisco
• Community-Engaged Research with Community-Based Organizations: A Resource Manual for Researchers – University of California San Francisco
• Engage for Equity: A Long-Term Study of Community-Based Participatory Research and Community-Engaged Research Practices and Outcomes – journal
• Engage for Equity: Development of Community-Based Participatory Research Tools – journal 🔒
• PCORI Engagement Tool and Resource Repository
• PHDR Resources Co-developed with SoLaHmo – University of Minnesota
  • Partnership Protocol Executive Summary
  • Partnership Protocol
  • SoLaHmo Partnership Action Steps
  • Research Partnership Checklist
• Principles of Community Engagement – CDC
• Resources for Community-Engaged Research – University of Minnesota

OTHER UW INITIATIVES

• UW Institute of Translational Health Sciences  Community Engagement program

• UW Community Engagement And Leadership Education Center

• UW Population Health Initiative