Community capacity building: a collaborative approach to designing a training and education model

Area of Science:

• Community-based participatory research
• Health equity
• Research capacity building

Background:

• Community-academic research partnerships are crucial for mutual benefit.
• Information on the needs of research-interested community-based organizations (CBOs) is limited.
• This study aimed to assess CBO research needs to inform capacity-building program development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a community research needs assessment for CBOs.
• To identify specific training and skill-building priorities for CBOs.
• To inform the development of targeted capacity-building programs for CBOs.

Main Methods:

• A needs assessment survey was developed based on literature review and interviews.
• Community health workers (CHWs) recruited senior leaders from CBOs in New York City (NYC).
• An online survey assessed research collaboration experience, topic interests, and learning preferences.

Main Results:

• 54% of CBOs completed the survey; 69% had recent research or evaluation involvement.
• While 75% had prior academic collaborations, 58% rated these experiences poorly.
• CBOs prioritized skills in program evaluation, needs assessments, survey development, and statistical analysis.

Conclusions:

• CBOs possess research experience but often report negative academic collaborations.
• CBO leaders seek enhanced skills in conducting and analyzing assessments and evaluations.
• Findings will guide the development of a research capacity-building course to foster active CBO research partnerships.