Putting “participation” in community-based participatory research: Insights from one rural community

Background: The purpose of this presentation is to chronicle the development, implementation, and evaluation of a community participatory research team (CPRT) through the second year of a three-year project to partner with a rural tobacco-producing community in designing a youth tobacco, alcohol, and drug use prevention program. Description: This community-based participatory research (CBPR) project showcases efforts to integrate rigorous research methods with strategies to involve key community members, i.e., youth, parents, and community leaders, as equal partners in the design, implementation, and evaluation of a youth substance use preventive intervention. Intentional, formative steps in conducting CBPR in this project follow recommendations from the CBPR literature including building trusting, long-term relationships and identifying rules of operation for active decision-making by the CPRT. Contributions of the community CPRT members to the overall project will also be described. Lessons Learned: Numerous published sources recognize a continuum from limited partnerships in an existing research project to more fully developed partnerships that entail the involvement of community members as equals in study design. Few research reports discuss issues encountered in obtaining IRB approval and challenges of working with lay community members, often from a distant rural locality. In addition, successful funding for implementation and evaluation of community-based participatory research is limited. The challenges and opportunities of federal and state-level or foundation funding are discussed. Recommendations: Creation of a dynamic, productive community research partnership model, which may sustain a youth substance use prevention program, with potential to facilitate success in similar projects in other rural communities.