Community Alliance for Research Empowering Social change (CARES): A qualitative evaluation for a community based public health training

Introduction: The CARES Fellows Training is an evidence-based public health training designed to build the infrastructure for Community Based Participatory Research. A summative evaluation was conducted to identify and explore the necessary skills and knowledge, level of involvement, and facilitating factors community members need to participate in a community based research training. The CARES project team was also interested in participants' experiences, how the training contributed to their learning process, and CARES Fellows' understanding of research. Methods: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with CARES Fellows to assess participant satisfaction, areas of improvement, facilitating factors, and barriers for training. Interviews were audio recorded, professionally transcribed, and analyzed using ATLAS-ti 6.2. Each transcript was independently coded by two coders, codes were collapsed into categories, and themes emerged. Two CARES fellows reviewed and provided feedback on the codes, quotes, and themes and provided their recommendations for future trainings. Results: Based on the qualitative interviews, we identified 6 overarching themes (lessons learned, recommendations, CBPR principles, effectiveness, facilitating factors, and challenges) that demonstrated the CARES Fellows training increased participants' research literacy and facilitated academic-community research partnerships. Community members reported feeling empowered to use their new knowledge to engage in social change in their communities. Discussion: The CARES training program achieved its goal to enhance the community's knowledge and understanding of research, as well as increase their capacity to participate in research as partners. Comprehensive research training may prove beneficial for community stakeholders who desire to engage as equal partners in the research process.