179192 Board evaluation of a community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnership process: The Detroit community-academic Urban Research Center

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 4:30 PM

Shawn D. Kimmel, PhD , Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, Detroit, MI
Zachary Rowe , Friends of Parkside, Detroit, MI
Barbara A. Israel, DrPH , Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI
Ricardo Guzman, MSW, MPH , Community Health & Social Services Center, Inc, Detroit, MI
Richard Lichtenstein, PhD , Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Robert McGranaghan, MPH , School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Ebony Sandusky, MPH , School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Donele Wilkins , Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, Detroit, MI
In order to maintain and build capacity for CBPR, community-academic partnerships need to evaluate the effectiveness of their participatory process. Information on how effective a CBPR partnership has been at achieving its intermediate process objectives can be used to strengthen the partnership's work toward achieving its ultimate goals of improving community health. The Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center (URC) is a CBPR partnership established in 1995 to conduct research on the social determinants of health, and develop interventions to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities affecting the residents of east, southwest, and northwest Detroit. The partnership process is coordinated through the URC Board, which engages partnership representatives from community-based organizations, health care providers, and academia in all aspects of the research and intervention process. This presentation will review: the conceptual framework for assessing the URC partnership; the results of a closed-ended survey questionnaire completed by all Board members in 2007; major themes (including Board capacity, resource allocation, policy engagement, partnership visibility and impact) identified in the analysis of these results; the Board's subsequent discussion of these results as part of its formative evaluation of the URC partnership process; and key actions identified by the Board to strengthen the partnership and its policy-related activities. We will also discuss lessons learned and implications for the use of closed-ended questionnaires as one component of a CBPR partnership evaluation.

Learning Objectives:
1. Identify major themes of a CBPR partnership evaluation. 2. Describe key actions taken to strengthen a CBPR partnership. 3. Articulate lessons learned from use of a closed-ended questionnaire as a component of a CBPR partnership evaluation.

Keywords: Community Research, Evaluation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the lead author in research with the Detroit Urban Research Center on this topic.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

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.