Participatory action research for community health promotion

Community participation is an important feature of community health promotion. One form is participatory action research. This article describes the process and outcomes of participatory action research conducted by a Healthy City in rural Indiana and public health nurse faculty. The community was integrally involved in the entire process, including framing of research questions, construction and distribution of survey tools, analysis of findings, and taking action on the results. Combining local insights of the community with technical assistance from public health nursing yielded multiple benefits. The role of participatory action research is appropriate for public health nurses because it is consistent with the goals and characteristics of the profession.