Healthy research partnerships promote healthy communities: Evaluating the process of community participation in lay health worker intervention research

BACKGROUND: The “Live Healthy and Live Long Project” is a lay health worker (LHW) intervention research project designed to improve colorectal cancer screening, nutrition, and physical activities in Vietnamese Americans. This community participation evaluation examines the partnership between researchers and community to measure the extent that Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) creates equitable research-community partnerships and community benefits. METHODS: Qualitative interviews and participant observations were used to evaluate community participation of organizational representatives, community leaders, and community members in research design, implementation, dissemination, and other phases of research. Ten qualitative interviews were conducted with community leaders, agency coordinators of community-based organizations providing LHW service, and researchers. Interview topics included participation context, expectations, partnership dynamics, benefits, challenges, and community impact. Participant observations focused on community participation at LHW trainings, educational sessions, meetings, and community health forums. RESULTS: Findings show the extent that CBPR principles were achieved throughout the research process. This current research-community partnership benefitted from the pre-existing relationships that researchers and community members built over ten years. These relationships also allowed for continuity in methodologies across projects. A challenge is that definitions of an equitable partnership is not fixed but contextually and culturally defined, such as how trust and power are negotiated. CONCLUSIONS: When measuring CBPR among underserved populations, such as Vietnamese Americans, there are short term and long term benefits. Short term benefits include trust-building and increased organizational capacity. The long-term benefits include infrastructure expansion, community capacity building, and future research-community projects.