257487 Community Alliance for Research Empowering Social change (CARES): A qualitative evaluation for a community based public health training

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 12:30 PM - 12:45 PM

Megan Casebolt, BSW , George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Jewel Stafford, MSW , Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
Julius Ade, MD, PhD, MPH , Public Health Regional Epidemiologist, Bureau of Communicable Disease Control, Metropolitan Area Regional Office, New York State Department of Health, Central Islip, NY
Adesuwa Obasohan, MPH , Office of Minority Health, Health Program Analyst I, Suffolk County Department of Health Services, Hauppauge, NY
Cheryl Mchunguzi, LMSW , Office of the President, Long Island Think Tank for Black Progress, West Babylon, NY
Melody S. Goodman, PhD , Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
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.

Learning Areas:
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related education
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
1. Develop a comprehensive evidence based public health training 2. Evaluate community based public health training using qualitative methods 3. Describe best practices to increase research literacy among diverse community stakeholders

Keywords: Research, Community Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a research assistant on several projects involving qualitative data analysis at the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. I did the qualitative data evaluation, analysis, and coding for this project. Among my scientific interests are women's health and community development.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.