Oral

Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) is an investigative framework based ideally on flexible power relationships and the unobstructed, bidirectional flow of expert and local knowledge among project partners. Success in CBPR depends on authentic dialogue among partners, free flow of information, and trust. But accurate, unmediated and timely channels of communications, while key to successful CBPR, are difficult to create and maintain. As participatory methodologies evolve, informal popular education and arts modalities are increasingly perceived as culturally fluent vehicles for conveying public health information, establishing channels of communication among research partners, tapping into contextual knowledge, illuminating the human stories and social-political subtext behind statistics describing community health disparities, disproportionate impacts and cumulative risks, and enhancing translational dissemination of research data to promote effective health advocacy. Popular education techniques make essential analytic tools like GIS mapping accessible for community advocates with wide ranges of scientific literacy and information technology skills. Arts-based methods such as Theater of the Oppressed (TO), photo / video-voice, spoken word, visual arts, and more give community values and needs a strong, authentic voice and ensure that methods and messages are rooted in local cultures and delivered clearly, directly, and respectfully. Popular education and arts techniques are useful throughout the entire community research cycle, offering participatory vehicles for meaningful community involvement in the initial framing of research questions, in developing culturally fluent data collection and intervention methods, and in synthesizing interpretations that broaden the scope and enrich the content of research while enhancing advocacy efforts of community based organizations. These popular methodologies serve to democratize community engagement, and build translational bridges linking scientific expertise, situated knowledge, and local historical contexts, while promoting flexible and informed responses to emergent public health needs and changes in community dynamics. We will present theoretical analyses, case studies, field reports and comparisons to promote methodological dialogue on the role of community-based arts and popular education in enriching research and enhancing outreach, education, and advocacy in CBPR with an environmental / occupational health and safety, social justice, and health disparities / cumulative risk focus.

Session Objectives: 1) Describe how participation in popular arts / education interventions can increase “community literacy” on the part of researchers. 2) Describe how popular education / arts methodologies promote equity and informed collaboration at each stage of the research cycle: framing-design, data collection-intervention, and interpretation-evaluation. 3) Demonstrate how use of popular education / arts methodologies develop cultural competency, cultural sensitivity, cultural fluency in outreach and education. 4) Evaluate success of popular education / arts modalities in developing bidirectional channels of communication for dialogue and information-sharing. 5) Survey scope and range of popular education / arts modalities effective in community-based research including: community history time-lines, narratives of witness, assets / hazards / social indicators GIS mapping, drama (Playback, Theatre of the Oppressed, broad brush Teatro Campesino style, traditional representational style), photo-voice, video-voice,, photo / video novellas, digital storytelling, visual art, audio / video podcast, music and spoken word (hip-hop, folk, corridos), et al. 6) Analyze how popular techniques enhance community capacity for advocacy and action in identifying and addressing community health challenges.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)