149779 Trust in community-based participatory research

Monday, November 5, 2007: 9:00 AM

Suzanne Christopher, PhD , Department of Health and Human Development, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
Vanessa Watts, MS , Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA
Alma Knows His Gun McCormick , Health & Human Development, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
Sara Young, MEd , Montana State University, Lame Deer, MT
     
Conducting meaningful research is vital to eliminate health disparities; but many groups experiencing health disparities have had negative experiences with researchers, leading to an understandable distrust of researchers and the research process. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is a research process that seeks to build trust between community members and researchers by establishing collaborative relationships and partnerships. This talk, co-presented by community and academic partners, discusses the experiences of a CBPR project in a Native American community. We provide advice on building and maintaining trust and offer examples from this project. Two levels of trust building are essential in facilitating community trust and enhancing research effectiveness. The first level involves the initial relationship between academic partner(s) and community partner(s). The second level of trust involves broadening to the larger community and academic settings. We also offer specific advice for building trust in Native American communities as a co-requisite to conducting health disparities research.

Learning Objectives:
1. Recognize the importance of trust in CBPR projects. 2. Describe the two levels of trust that CBPR projects go through in their development and implementation. 3. Assess, from the view of both Native American community and Native and non-Native university partners, how one CBPR project developed and works to maintain a trust relationship. 4. Provide examples of how one CBPR project sees that it has trust both in the Native American community and with community and university partners.

Keywords: Native Americans, Ethics

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: What Works? Identifying and Assessing Models, Structures, and Factors that Make or Break Partnerships
See more of: Community-Based Public Health Caucus