Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) on a shoestring budget: Lessons learned in community mobilization

The Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) process is a conceptual orientation to research in which community members are viewed as valued and respected partners in each research phase. In 2004, investigators from Texas Woman's University (TWU) were invited by a local Dallas non-profit organization to assist with a needs assessment in a primarily Hispanic (62%) community in West Dallas, Texas. Secondary data sources for this area indicated that the incidence rates for West Dallas exceeded the county average for 27 major health conditions. Soon into the process, it became clear that many of the West Dallas organizations were either not aware of the other organizations in the area or did not realize they had similar missions and goals for the community. Based on this realization, a significant long-term objective for this project was to improve collaborative efforts among the West Dallas organizations to build capacity and infrastructure for community sustainability. Through the efforts of non-profit organizations and Texas Woman's University, a CBPR collaboration was developed. Due to the commitment of the collaboration, 24 West Dallas community members were recruited and completed a 160-hour Promotora certification training. To date, it is the largest Promotora training to occur in Texas. This presentation will include those successes experienced in the initial three years of this project. However, more importantly, the presenters will convey the challenges faced during this project and present strategies to utilize during the initial phases of a CBPR project to improve community sustainability.