Development of community-based partnerships in minority aging research

The Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) initiative was established in 1997 and currently includes six centers across the United States. The model of community engagement developed by all the RCMARs is Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR). This supplement explores the diverse methods of partnership building in each RCMAR and highlights some of the successes and challenges encountered in CBPR. Two articles focus on how the CBPR infrastructure facilitates the conduct of research in minority communities. Two other manuscripts discuss the unique experiences at those RCMARs in the CBPR partnership development process. The final paper describes the mentoring processes used at each of the RCMARs for both junior academic investigators and community members. We conclude that CBPR is a difficult and long-term process requiring substantial buy-in and commitments from both the academic and community partners in a continuous and evolving collaborative partnership.