Identifying Promising Practices to Create, Evaluate and Sustain Community Advisory Boards

The growing call for Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) argues that progress in public health can only arise through mutually respectful, co-learning relationships among researchers, community members, and policy makers. Interventions used in the past “historically rarely directly benefits and sometimes actually harmed the communities involved and has excluded them from influence over the research process” (Israel, 1998). Community Advisory Boards (CABs) provide a link between researchers and the community ensuring that the community members are engaged throughout the research process and that the research is responsive to the community where the research is being conducted.

While an increasing number of governing bodies and funders require community input through a CAB structure, few guidelines exist based on a systematic assessment of successful policies and practices. As the focus on CBPR and requirement for community participation in research increases, there is an emergent need to understand “best practices” for community input.

This presentation will focus on an exploratory study of the current and promising practices of CABs for research projects and partnerships funded by NCMHD, Centers of Excellence and the CDC, Prevention Research Centers. The presentation will highlight methods used including literature review, interviews and internet search to assess and develop recommendations to advance the efficacy of CABs. By the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: (1) describe current practices of CABs, (2) identify the capacity, impact, and utility of a CAB, and (3) demonstrate the potential for sustainability of an existing CAB.