Lessons learned in partnerships and social change: Community Alliance for Research Empowering Social change (CARES)

The Community Alliance for Research Empowering Social change (CARES) is an academic community based partnership with a shared vision to improve population health outcomes and reduce the health disparities impacting minority and medically underserved populations on Long Island. Development and facilitation of this collaborative network required strategic planning, community engagement, community mobilization and community organization. The Center for Public Health and Health Policy Research leveraged the power of partnerships, and harnessed synergy among community stakeholders and academic faculty to: assess and elucidate priority health concerns; secure NIH grant funding; facilitate evidence based public health research trainings for community members to form a community based research network and develop an infrastructure for CBPR.

This comprehensive training and multifaceted approach produced a paradigm shift, placing an emphasis on a community driven research agenda; created a pool of community members that can serve on community research advisory boards; enhanced community knowledge and understanding of research; and united key academic community stakeholders into a comprehensive community based research network.

Academic-community partnerships are both challenging and rewarding. We developed a flexible framework that facilitated community engagement, partnership development and activated social change in our region. Community liaisons, outreach workers and engaged scholars play a crucial role in the development of trust. A consistent presence, mutual benefits and institutional faculty/staff buy in are essential characteristics for community stakeholders' engagement and serve as the catalyst for social action and social change. This community approach has been effective in mobilizing communities to engage in CBPR.