CBPR to reduce smoking in a low-income urban community

Low-income urban populations smoke at much higher rates and quit at much lower rates than their wealthier and better educated counterparts. This report is based on a partnership project between a low-income urban community and the Morgan State University to develop, implement, and evaluate smoking cessation interventions through participatory randomized control trials. The partnership is called “Communities Engaged and Advocating for a Smoke-free Environment (CEASE).” Leaders from the Community Based Organizations, local stakeholders, and community residents worked with their academic partners and identified tobacco smoking as a high priority problem. Hence, the proposed project was designed and funded as a Community Based Participatory Experimental Research, with mix quantitative and qualitative methods. A Community Advisory Board (CAB) is formed with ultimate power to set and change directions of the planning, program development, and implementation of the projects. Data from a cross-sectional study (n=1,442), two intercept surveys (n= 113), and several focus group discussions and individual interviews provide contextual information about the community necessary to understands specific steps and challenges for creating a full equitable partnership. Preliminary data on tobacco treatment trial are used to describe how a diverse body of partners may effectively team work on an experimental participatory project. The process of the partnership formation such as the recruitment the CAB members and their function will be described. Major challenges were maintaining a full equitable partnership and the issue of fostering trust. The activities and conflicts to design and submit a successful participatory application for NIH funding will be described.