NIH-Funded CBPR: Self-Reported Community Partner and Investigator Perspectives

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Community Health Research
• Health Equity

Background:

• Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has advanced significantly in health contexts over two decades.
• While CBPR intervention literature has grown, research on community-research partnership function and evaluation lags.
• A gap exists in understanding the dynamics and perceptions within established CBPR partnerships.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the function and perceptions of community-research partnerships in National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded CBPR projects.
• To identify areas of agreement and disagreement between principal investigators (PIs) and community partners in CBPR.
• To provide recommendations for enhancing future CBPR collaborations.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a comprehensive search of NIH archival data, identifying 489 CBPR projects.
• Collected community partner contact information from PIs due to its frequent absence in grant records.
• Administered surveys to PIs and community partners using established measures to assess perceptions of participation.

Main Results:

• Many PIs and community partners reported pre-existing collaborations among academicians and community organizations.
• Partners generally agreed on funding appropriateness and community partners' capacity for recruitment, data collection, and intervention implementation.
• Discrepancies emerged in perceptions regarding involvement in research design, data analysis, manuscript preparation, and dissemination.

Conclusions:

• CBPR partnerships demonstrate strengths in operational aspects but require enhanced engagement in research design and dissemination.
• Recommendations include systematically collecting lead community partner information and providing standardized research education.
• Increased involvement of community organizations in research vocabulary and practices is crucial for equitable partnerships.