Building trust: Leadership reflections on community empowerment and engagement in a large urban initiative

Abstract

Background Trust is essential for healthy, reciprocal relationships; creating safe environments; engaging in transparent interactions; successfully negotiating power differentials; supporting equity and putting trauma informed approaches into practice. Less is known, however, about the ways that trust-building may be at the forefront of consideration during community capacity building efforts, what trust-building elements are perceived as essential for optimally engaging communities, and what practices might support these efforts. Methods The present study examines an evolving understanding of trust-building over the course of 3 years, from qualitative data derived during interviews with nine agency leads from a large and diverse urban community, who are spearheading community-based partnerships to create more trauma-informed communities and foster resiliency. Results Data reflected fourteen trust-building elements, captured by three themes: 1) Building relationships and engagement (e.g., behavioral practices such as meeting people “where they are at” and creating safe spaces), 2) Embodying core values of trustworthiness (e.g., traits such as being transparent and embodying benevolence), and 3) Sharing decision-making, championing autonomy, and addressing barriers to trust (e.g., collaborative practices such as creating a shared vision and goals and addressing systemic inequities). These trust-building elements are presented in the Community Circle of Trust-Building, which provides an accessible, visual format that can facilitate capacity building efforts within organizations and with the broader community; guide the selection of training opportunities that support healthy interpersonal relationships; and aid in the identification of relevant, supporting frameworks (e.g., health equity, trauma-informed practices, inclusive leadership models). Conclusions Community engagement and trust are essential for overall health and well-being, increasing equitable access to resources, and supporting an effective and connected citizenry. These data shed light on opportunities for trust-building and thoughtful engagement among agencies working directly with community members in large urban areas.

Updating the Chronic Illness and Disability Payment System

“…Paying community organizations to address disparities relinquishes some control of funding but leverages community knowledge and trust and can more effectively engage community members in developing sustainable solutions. 13…”

Community-Partnered Research appraisal tool for conducting, reporting and assessing community-based research

“…For instance, following the recommended guidelines of the CPR appraisal tool may increase investment and commitment in the project and relationships, increase clarity about roles and responsibilities, and help articulate a shared vision and goal during the partnership and planning phase when conducting community-based research. Furthermore, similar to the endorsement of other recommended guidelines, using the CPR appraisal tool may increase the word count and length of manuscripts and review reports while conversely improving the clarity, transparency and completeness of community-based research publications,78–82 strengthening the systematic evaluation of research evidence,93–95 and encouraging more authentic and trustworthy partnership among all parties involved in community-based research 54 96 97. However, due to the current state of community-based research publications, appraisals from external reviewers may initially have trouble identifying all the items in the retrospective CPR appraisal tool.…”

“…For example, we plan to subsequently test the utility, usability and user experience of the retrospective CPR appraisal tool by recruiting community-based research teams across disciplines. We hope introducing the CPR appraisal tool can function to bring together professional researchers and community co-researchers as partnered explorers97 with a shared explicit language96 101 102 who co-learn, co-design and co-create robust, usable and reproducible knowledge that propels community-based research forward towards social, structural and environmental equity and sustainability for individual, family and population health.…”

Leading in a Time of Crisis: The Coronavirus Effect on Leadership in America

“…Effective leadership in moments of crisis hinges not just on decisive action but on the cultivation of trust, acting as a vital anchor, fostering collaboration, navigating complex situations, and ultimately guiding followers towards recovery [56]. Three key themes, transparency, empathy, and engagement, emerge as cornerstones of this trust-building process [57,58].…”