Oral

Continuous public health research is needed in order to identify areas of need within communities. Joint collaboration between researchers and community members is vital when proposing and/ or implementing programs that aim at improving public/ community health. Community-based participatory research methods (CBPR) encourage community members to actively participate in research studies involving communities and help identify their main health threats, and areas of concern and improvement themselves. Through CBPR, community members contribute to decision making and intervention strategies that will better serve their community and improve public health. Therefore, CBPR is vital to ensure that interventional programs are successful and sustained in communities in order to tackle health disparities and improve health.

Session Objectives: 1. Define community based participatory research. 2. Identify at least two ways in which community members can contribute to CBPR methods. 3. List at least three means researchers can utilize to gain access to communities and collaborate with community key informants to successfully implement sustainable programs that will improve the community’s health.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)