Building the individual and organizational CBPR capacity of community partners: The continuing story of the Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities

CBPR partnerships seek to develop long term relationships and capacity to sustain effective research collaboration. The mission of the CTSA-supported Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities (ARCC) is to grow equitable and collaborative partnerships between Chicago area communities and Northwestern University (NU) for research that leads to measureable improvement in community health. ARCC's Steering Committee (SC) includes community-based organizations (12) and NU faculty (5).Through a local foundation grant, SC community-based organization (CBO) members have completed an 18-month joint project, entitled PERCH (Partnership for Empowering Research by Chicago Communities about Health) to 1) build and institutionalize their capacity as equal research partners in ways that meet their mission-driven needs, and 2) to serve as ambassadors for CBPR. Each CBO assessed its research skills, priorities, and readiness to engage in research partnerships and developed action plans to increase the interest in and integration of CBPR principles and practices into their organization's unique priorities/programs. The CBOs worked collaboratively to guide the project, alongside ARCC faculty/staff; developed guidelines/tools to support CBO participation; and identified key components of individual and organizational CBPR capacity. This work is fostering the infrastructure and supportive leaders to sustain changes in community and institutional systems and practices. Key findings to date include: the process of developing action plans helped to build CBPR understanding/support throughout their organizations; CBOs learn CBPR best by doing; and CBOs with varied organizational structures have varied capacity needs/strengths. PERCH participants and ARCC staff will share PERCH experiences and future plans for collective impact on research practices.