Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #107093

Elisa J. Gordon, PhD, MPH, Stritch School of Medicine, Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics, Loyola University Chicago, 2160 S. First Avenue, Maywood, IL 60153, 708-327-9220, egordo1@Lumc.edu and Thomas Prohaska, PhD, Center for Research on Health and Aging, University of Illinois at Chicago, 850 W. Jackson (M/C 275), Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60607.

Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) is a burgeoning approach to research used commonly for health promotion and community assessment. The ethical issues arising in the course of CBPR differ substantially from ethical issues emergent in other forms of human subjects research because of the potential risks to the community. However, little is known about the variety of unique ethical dilemmas in CBPR, including for example, tensions surrounding equitable involvement in research and analysis between researchers and community members, preventing community stereotyping, and ownership of data. Compounding this problem is that governmental oversight bodies, such as the Office for Human Research Protections as well as local Institutional Review Boards, have focused little on the risks of CBPR when reviewing grant or research proposals because oversight bodies traditionally serve to protect potential risks to individuals, and neglect to consider the potential risks to the community that CBPR raises. This paper aims to first describe some examples of ethical issues arising in CBPR; second, identify the need for greater governmental oversight of such research to protect communities; and third, develop some initial review approaches that agencies can utilize to ensure greater community protection.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Describe some ethical issues arising in Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR).
• Recognize the need for greater governmental oversight of CBPR to protect communities.
• List several novel approaches that oversight bodies can use to review CBPR research for community protection.

Keywords: Community-Based Health Promotion, Research Ethics

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.