266015 Understanding community-based organization capacity to engage in research that supports their mission to improve community health

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Amy Carroll-Scott, PhD, MPH , School of Public Health, Community Alliance for Research and Engagement, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Debbie L. Humphries, PhD, MPH , School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Shonali M. Choudhury, PhD, MMH , School of Nursing and Health Studies, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
Terry Tian, MPH , Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT
Leif Mitchell , Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT
David Fiellin, MD , Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
Background. Community-based organizations (CBOs) are vital to understanding community health needs and developing health improvement efforts to address those needs. Yet little is known about the research capacity of CBOs, and no validated or standard capacity measures exist. Our purpose was to pilot a multi-domain CBO research capacity assessment survey designed to explore associations between organizational experience and characteristics with different levels of research activities and needs. Methods. Thirty-minute interviewer-administered quantitative surveys were conducted with executive directors of 26 CBOs and 4 local health departments affiliated with an HIV/AIDS community-academic partnership program (>95% response rate). Simple descriptive and bivariate analyses were conducted. Results. Although only 5 of 30 organizations had successfully received research grant funding as lead organizations, results demonstrated the majority engaged in regular research activities: use of multiple data collection methods, weekly primary data collection, literature reviews, asking and successfully answering research questions, and sharing research results with internal and external audiences. Several barriers were identified to using research more effectively in their work, including staffing, funding, organizational support, and needed skills. Organizational size, budget, and positive research attitudes were associated with distinguishing high levels of research activities from high research capacity needs. Conclusions. Results from a pilot multi-domain CBO research capacity assessment demonstrated variability in experience yet revealed that CBOs with non-research missions report frequent use of research and data to support their community health work. This presentation will discuss implications for addressing CBO research capacity needs, effective community-academic research partnerships, and future instrument validity testing.

Learning Areas:
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the importance of better understanding community-based organization (CBO) capacity to engage in research that supports their mission to improve community health. 2. Highlight ways that CBOs are using research processes in their work that are not typically described in the capacity building or community-based participatory research literature. 3. Discuss implications of better understanding CBO research capacity and needs to support effective community-academic research partnerships, community health assessments, and community health improvements.

Keywords: Community Research, Community Capacity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I contributed significantly throughout the study including work in survey design, data collection, data entry, and data analysis.
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.

Back to: 4165.0: Poster Session - Research & Data Analysis