Community Priority Index: Utility, Applicability and Validation for Priority Setting in Community-Based Participatory...

Area of Science:

• Community-based participatory research (CBPR)
• Health disparities reduction
• Sustainable community outcomes

Background:

• Need for intuitive, robust measures in community settings for priority setting.
• Lack of feasible, reliable decision-making tools in community-based participatory research.
• Importance of accountability in community decision-making processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• Demonstrate the utility and applicability of a Community Priority Index (CPI).
• Validate the CPI in a community-based participatory research setting.
• Address the gap in methodologically sound priority-setting measures for CBPR.

Main Methods:

• Mixed-method study combining focus groups and nominal group technique.
• Generation of a Community Priority Index (CPI) integrating community importance, changeability, and target populations.
• Validation through bootstrapping and simulation.

Main Results:

• Identified top priorities for pregnant mothers: stress, lack of affection, and nutritional issues.
• Identified top priorities for non-pregnant women: low health literacy, low educational attainment, and lack of self-esteem.
• Identified top priorities for children/adolescents: obesity, low self-esteem, and negative attitudes toward education.

Conclusions:

• The Community Priority Index (CPI) is a viable, systematic approach for priority setting in CBPR.
• CPI enhances objectivity and reliability in community-based decision-making.
• The CPI is a simple and intuitive measure applicable to diverse CBPR settings.