Student Participation in Community-Based Participatory Research To Improve Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)

Background:

• Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is vital for community engagement and capacity building.
• Engaging students in CBPR projects can foster a new generation of researchers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe student involvement in environmental health research projects with migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
• To offer observations on successful student integration in community-based research.

Main Methods:

• High school, undergraduate, graduate, and professional students participated in various research aspects.
• Students engaged in planning, data collection, analysis, and reporting results.
• Participants dedicated time to understanding the farmworker population and CBPR methodologies.

Main Results:

• Student participation benefits community-based projects.
• Students gained valuable experience in environmental health research and community engagement.
• The projects successfully integrated students across different academic levels.

Conclusions:

• Student involvement in CBPR is a valuable strategy for community capacity building.
• This model effectively trains future community-oriented environmental health researchers.
• CBPR projects with farmworkers provide significant learning opportunities for students.