Community Health Partnerships for Chronic Disease Prevention Among Latinos: The San Diego Prevention Research Center

Abstract

Over 20 years ago, university-community partnerships (i.e., Prevention Research Centers [PRCs]) across the United States were funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct research and training in order to promote health and prevent disease in underserved populations. In 2004, the San Diego PRC (SDPRC) became the first PRC to focus on obesity prevention and HHS Public Access Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript control in a community of mostly Mexican Americans/Mexican immigrants. The SDPRC was also the first PRC to comprise a university-community partnership with a school of public health, a school of medicine, and a federally qualified health center. In conjunction with two additional funded community partners and involvement of a community advisory board, the SDPRC seeks to develop effective intervention strategies that ultimately lead to behavior change. Now in its second cycle of funding, the SDPRC has identified three primary principles that are important for these and similar efforts: (1) developing culturally appropriate interventions requires community engagement; (2) building the evidence in a systematic and rigorous way yields meaningful strategies for translation to practice; and (3) translating evidence-based interventions to practice involves capacity building for both researchers and community partners. This article describes these principles to help others involved in similar intervention efforts identify the best approach for promoting health in their own communities.

Build to sustain: collaborative partnerships between university researchers and criminal justice practitioners

“…A few strategies leading to successful collaborations include open, frequent, on-going communication (Elder et al, 2013;Johnson, Zorn, Yung Tam, Lamontagne, & Johnson, 2003), partner-ready leadership (Austin et al, 1999;Johnson et al, 2003;Minkler, Vasquez, Tajik, & Peterson, 2008), and a clear research purpose or agenda (Davey & Ivery, 2009). During a collaborative partnership with the local community, the San Diego Prevention Research Center found that open communication lines lead to quality input and feedback from all partners (Elder et al, 2013). Citing a shared purpose or vision as a necessity, Minkler and colleagues (2008) found a sense of solidarity and shared values led to an enhanced commitment among the partners studied.…”

“…In forming partnerships and collaborations, memorandums of understanding (MOUs) help maintain and solidify long-term relationships among partners (Elder et al, 2013). MOUs include critical components that allow partnerships to grow and flourish.…”

“…MOUs include critical components that allow partnerships to grow and flourish. Such components include developing projects that meet both researcher and partner agency needs, responding to requests of technical assistance, providing capacity-building opportunities, sharing funding opportunities, collaborating on dissemination activities including conference presentation and other publications, advocating on behalf of community partners and participating in regular community events and meetings (Elder et al, 2013). Collaborative efforts employ several strategies to perpetuate the partnerships.…”

“…For researchers housed within universities, gaining access to the target study population is the first step in developing and sustaining a collaborative relationship (Elder et al, 2013). This is often a slow process, focused on developing and maintaining relationships with specific individuals within the organization who possess rich knowledge and understanding of the target research population (Elder et al, 2013).…”

“…This cycle of mistrust can hinder communication between partners and impact the shared vision strived for through these partnerships. However, these types of partnerships are critical for successfully translating research to practice (Elder et al, 2013). Incorporating agency or organizational input from the beginning of a research project ensures that outcomes are realistic for and useable to both researchers and practitioners in ways that may not be available without collaboration.…”