Critical Incident Technique interview: An innovative CBPR method for amplifying the voices of women on their breast cancer care

To better understand the complexities of institutional racism and how it relates to disparities experienced by African American and White breast cancer survivors within a local community, qualitative interviews were conducted using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT). As part of the Cancer Care and Racial Equity Study (CCARES), an initiative of the Greensboro Health Disparities Collaborative, a unique, action-oriented research methodology was used to bring together the collective of women diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. The CIT method of interviewing focuses on exploring with women, through two consecutive in-depth interviews, the specific behaviors, pleasant and unpleasant, experienced during the critical periods of diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up associated with breast cancer. Guided by principles of community-based participatory research, community members partnered with members of the medical and academic communities to prepare, conduct and analyze CIT interviews. To be highlighted in this presentation will be: CIT interviewer trainings with community partners; CIT interviewer practice and feedback sessions; collaborative CIT analysis training; and public recognition rewards. Central to CCARES CBPR partnership has been the formal certification in research ethics. Prioritizing the training of community research partners has assisted in upholding the research ethic of beneficence by building community capacity and participant self-awareness. The presentation will end with a discussion of limitations and challenges of CIT, along with other lessons learned during this ongoing CBPR initiative.