Constructing a Community Mobilization Team in a CBPR Framework: How do you build collaboration, connection and capacity from within the community?

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) as an approach to empower communities and engage academics in meaningful collaborative work has increased in the past decade. CBPR public health projects have varied from focusing on specific diseases to intervention strategies for prevention. Two key principles of CBPR involve ensuring that co-learning is promoted and capacity is built among all partners, and that strengths and resources from the community are capitalized. Through our work with the CDC-funded Philadelphia Collaborative Violence Prevention Center (PCVPC), a community mobilization team (CMT) was developed as a fundamental component of the intervention study. Based on feedback from our community partners, team construction would be vital to the research project being received and sustained in the community. Traditional community outreach workers typically recruit research participants and disseminate information to communities. By distinction, our CMT is held to a higher level of responsibility and involvement in research design and implementation. Essential responsibilities of the CMT at each of the six intervention sites are: successful development & maintenance of relationships, assisting with site specific needs (i.e., targeted workshops), attending invited events, remaining flexible and scheduling regular in-person meetings to discuss the research process (i.e., rationale, randomization, and measures) during pre-intervention phases. This process was paramount to remaining transparent and responsive to community and academic concerns. Partners that engage in this work must recognize the need for resources, trainings, and support for the CMT. By strengthening community capacity through CMT members, relationships are solidified and co-learning occurs all while balancing pressing community needs.