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

Abstract #113137

Eugenia Eng, DrPH, Health Behavior and Health Education, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, Rosenau Hall - Campus Box 7440, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400, (919) 966-3909, eugenia_eng@unc.edu, Earl Horton, BS, MAN for Health Project, Strengthening the Black Family, Inc., 568 E. Lenoir Street, P.O. Box 28715, Raleigh, NC 27611, Anh N. Tran, MPH, Health Behavior and Health Education, University of North Carolina School of Public Health, CB #7440, Rosenau Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7440, Kate Shirah, MPH, Health Behavior and Health Education, University of North Carolina, CB #7440, Chapel Hill, NC 27759, and Alice S. Ammerman, DrPH, RD, Nutrition/Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1700 Airport Road, CB #8140, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.

Background/Purpose: Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has the dual purpose of generating new knowledge through scientific research and practical outcomes through collaborative action. Yet, to be undeniably ethical, their achievement can become entangled in values, guiding principles, and procedures that can appear to be contradictory. The purpose of this paper is to present findings and lessons learned on research ethics from a CBPR lay health advisor (LHA) intervention trial to reduce health disparities among African American and Latino men in North Carolina.

Methods: The CDC-funded Men as Navigators (MAN) for Health project's Advisory Council developed, in conjunction with the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of North Carolina, a 2-hour research ethics training and certification session for MAN's 4 Project Coordinators and 45 LHAs and a self-administered 12-item process evaluation questionnaire. The certification session was followed by a 2-hour training module on research methods for LHAs, conducted by Project Coordinators, on the procedures for ensuring informed consent from 450 men identified and assisted by the LHAs. An observation checklist was used to document degree of implementation fidelity to the intended training design.

Results: To illustrate results from the process evaluation, we will show relevant segments from the ethics training session and research methods training module. In addition, the ethical concerns raised by IRB about the role of LHAs as co-investigators, and how they were addressed by MAN, will be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

• 1.Describe the ethical considerations for engaging LHAs in conducting research.
• 2.Identify key components of research ethics training for the role of lay health advisors as co-investigators.
• 3.Discuss the implications of these findings for the guiding principles of CBPR.

Keywords: Ethics Training, Community Health Advisor

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.

Recorded presentation