Developing and Sustaining Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships: A Skill Building Curriculum

An increasing number of peer-reviewed journals are publishing articles and theme issues on CBPR. For example:

Additional selected journal articles and books are listed below in alphabetical order by author.

Ahmed SM, Beck B, Maurana CA, Newton G. (2004). Overcoming Barriers to Effective Community-Based Participatory Research in US Medical Schools. Education for Health 17(2): 141-151. http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/pdf_files/EducforHealthAhmed.pdf

In this article the authors consider the barriers to institutional change and faculty participation in CBPR, and propose some steps for overcoming the barriers and making CBPR an integral part of a medical institution’s research agenda. Training and supporting faculty in the philosophy and methods of this approach is the cornerstone of improved community-based research.

Eisinger A, Senturia K. (2001). Doing Community-Driven Research: A Description of Seattle Partners for Healthy Communities. J Urban Health 78(3): 519-534. http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/pdf_files/Eisinger.pdf

In this article, the authors describe the development and characteristics of Seattle Partners, a partnership of community agency representatives, community activists, public health professionals, academics, and health care providers whose mission is to improve the health of urban Seattle. The article includes a section describing the legacy of community-based research in Seattle, as well as the research methodology used to generate the report and ample discussion of research results.

Freudenberg. N (2001). Case History of the Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies in New York City. J Urban Health 78(3): 508-518. http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/pdf_files/freudenberg.pdf

This article present a case history of the transformation of the Center for Urban Epidemiological Studies (CUES) from an institution that worked with regional medical schools to a center seeking to define a new practice of community-based participatory research. The article summarizes the change process experienced by CUES, and illustrates how principles of CBPR have influenced its subsequent development.

George, MA, Daniel M, Green LW (1999). Appraising and Funding Participatory Research in Health Promotion. International Quarterly of Community Health Education, 18(2).

In this article, the authors illustrate discrepancies relating to criteria for evaluating research between groups seeking funding for participatory research projects, and funding agencies assessing such projects. The article includes a set of guidelines for funding agencies to use when appraising participatory research projects and also reviews examples of participatory research in Canada.

Higgins DL, Metzler M. (2001). Implementing Community-Based Participatory Research Centers in Diverse Urban Settings. J Urban Health 78(3): 488-494. To access: http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/pdf_files/Higgins.pdf

This article presents an overview of the first four years of the development of CBPR activities at three Urban Research Centers (URCs) funded by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. It describes participatory research as implemented by the URCs and provides an overview of the urban health issues being addressed.

Israel BA, Eng E, Schulz AJ, Parker EA. (Eds.) (2005). Methods in Community-Based Participatory Research for Health. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. To receive a 15% discount, order through the CCPH website: www.ccph.info

Written by distinguished experts in the field, this book shows how researchers, practitioners, and community partners can work together to establish and maintain equitable partnerships using a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach to increase knowledge and improve health and well-being of the communities involved. This book provides a comprehensive and thorough presentation of CBPR study designs, specific data collection and analysis methods, and innovative partnership structures and process methods. This book informs students, practitioners, researchers, and community members about methods and applications needed to conduct CBPR in the widest range of research areas—including social determinants of health, health disparities, health promotion, community interventions, disease management, health services, and environmental health.

Israel BA, Schulz AJ, Parker E, Becker AB. (2001). Community-Based Participatory Research: Policy Recommendations for Promoting a Partnership Approach in Health Research. Education for Health 14(2):182-197. http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/pdf_files/EducforHealthIsrael.pdf

This article presents key principles of CBPR, discusses the rationale for its use, and provides a number of policy recommendations at the organizational, community and national levels aimed at advancing the application of CBPR. While the issues addressed here draw primarily upon experiences in the United States, the emphasis throughout this article on the establishment of policies to enhance equity that would serve both to increase the engagement of communities as partners in health research, and to reduce health disparities, has relevant applications in a global context.

Minkler M, Wallerstein N. (Eds.) (2003). Community-Based Participatory Research for Health. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. To receive a 15% discount, order through the CCPH website: www.ccph.info

The editors have brought together, in one important volume, a stellar panel of contributors who offer a comprehensive resource on the theory and application of community based participatory research. The book contains information on a wide variety of topics including planning and conducting research, working with communities, promoting social change, and core research methods. The book also contains a helpful appendix of tools, guides, checklists, sample protocols, and much more.

O'Donnell M, Entwistle V. (2004). Consumer involvement in research projects: the activities of research funders. Health Policy 69:229-238. http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/pdf_files/science.pdf

This paper reports findings from a postal questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews with UK funders of health-related research that explored whether, why and how they promote consumer involvement in research projects. Many UK funders of health-related research are adopting a policy of promoting consumer involvement in research projects. Telephone interviews revealed they have several reasons for doing so, and that they vary in the ways they encourage and support researchers to involve consumers.

Parker, EA, Israel, BA, Williams M, Brakefield-Caidwell W, Lewis TC, Robins T, Ramirez E, Rowe Z, Keeler G. (2003). Community Action Against Asthma: Examining the Partnership Process of a Community-based Participatory Research Project. Journal of General Internal Medicine18(7): 558-567.

Community Action Against Asthma (CAAA) is a community-based participatory research project of the Michigan Center for the Environment and Children’s Health aimed at investigating the influence of environmental factors on childhood asthma. This paper describes a process evaluation implemented by CAAA of their community-academic partnership, and includes discussion of research methodology, results, and analysis.

Schensul J (1994). The Development and Maintenance of Community Research Partnerships. Occasional Papers in Applied Research Methods, Institute for Community Research, Hartford, CT. www.mapcruzin.com/community-research/index.html

In this paper, the author considers beginning stages in the development of action research partnerships. Steps described include building the community base, identifying the problem and building a program model, building a research model, brokering funding possibilities, and negotiating collaborative roles.