Community Partner Perspectives on Benefits, Challenges, Facilitating Factors, and Lessons Learned from Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships in Detroit

Abstract

In this article, we community partners provide our assessment of the benefits and challenges in using a CBPR approach at the personal, organizational, and community levels; the factors that facilitate effective partnerships; and our lessons learned through engagement in CBPR. We also present specific recommendations from a community perspective to researchers and institutions interested in conducting CBPR.

Systematic review of community-engaged research in ophthalmology

“…The strengths that currently exist in a community should be acknowledged. Communities should be evaluated not in terms of their problems, but in light of what is available to them and how they are able to use what they have [35,36]. Empowerment theory stresses that no external entity should assume that it can give a community the power to act in its own self-interest.…”

“…Given the history of human rights violations in health-related research within disenfranchised communities, overcoming mistrust of academic researchers remains an important barrier to conducting meaningful research in underserved communities [35,37,38]. To overcome these historic barriers, relationships must be nurtured from the very beginning as trust is an essential aspect of these partnerships [35][39][40]. This trust may be built by demonstrating competence in working with diverse cultures including a diversity of class, gender, ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation [41].…”

“…All eighteen studies demonstrated good knowledge of the communities researchers were studying. Communities must be interested in the research and in the priorities suggested[35,41] [45]. Community organizations and leaders who have the support and the respect of the community should be invited to participate [38,40,41].…”

“…For example, Anderson and colleagues described the longstanding relationships with community leaders and organizations in Detroit, which allowed them to evaluate over 1,000 community members through a culturally specific diabetic eye disease screening program. Ongoing evaluations of the communication processes throughout the partnership are encouraged [35,38,40,45] [46]. Recognition of the effort of community partners, who often have limited resources, helps to keep morale high [47] [37,38,41].…”

“…In parallel, the researchers studied found an improved understanding of community, enjoyment and satisfaction, challenges to beliefs and attitudes, as well as career benefits [48]. Organizations involved found greater access to skilled labor, expertise, and resources than they would have otherwise[35]. …”