Balancing power among academic and community partners: the case of El Proyecto Bienestar

Balancing power among academic and community partners, addressing community-identified needs, and strengthening community capacity are ethical values unique to community-based participatory research (CBPR). Negotiation of these values in one CBPR environmental justice project was evaluated to advance the environmental and occupational health of a Hispanic agricultural community in central Washington State. Data were collected through document review and participant observation. Applied conversation and discourse analysis were used to interpret the data. Within the organization, farmworkers primarily served an advisory role. Facilitation style influenced how participants negotiated environmental justice. Research goals were advanced in the project, but no direct actions were taken to improve farmworker health. Implementing CBPR's ethical values requires a willingness to confront institutional and interpersonal challenges, and offers a vision of research that builds knowledge and strengthens communities.