Influence of Behavioral and Social Intervention Research on Community Oral Health: Reaching Communities, Touching Lives

Establishing a relationship between researchers and the communities they study is mutually beneficial. Some of the benefits to the communities include establishing a working relationship with someone who is part of the research team, a sense of pride and accomplishment in the participant as well as in the community from seeing the results of their participation, and an increase in knowledge of the conditions studied. Some of the benefits to the researchers are having someone who will help bridge the gap between the researcher and the community, improve data quality, and to bring a sense of good relationship if there is a need to re-enter the area. Critical components of a working relationship between researchers and communities will be discussed with a focus on identifying stakeholders and community members. The successful CBPR program to be discussed is: The study of, Removing Barriers To Screening For Mouth & Throat Cancer. Specific issues that were addressed included A. Concern among the community partners about the communities about the manner in which subjects would be recruited. B. Identifying barriers to accessing mouth and throat cancer screenings. C. Insights into conducting door to door interviews and the who the research assistants would be. As a result of the participation of the community, the research question was refined as was the methodology.