Research for improved health: Methods, methods and metrics of national study to evaluate community based participatory research partnerships to reduce health disparities

A comprehensive charting of CBPR has been conducted through an NIH-funded study (2009-2013) to identify variation nationally across CBPR characteristics of research contexts and partnership processes that impact research decisions and health and social justice outcomes. Our research team, from the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center and the Universities of New Mexico and Washington, has developed a CBPR Logic Model, with other CBPR national experts, to explain how partnering contributes to CBPR outcomes among American Indian/Alaska Native, other communities of color and vulnerable populations. This presentation describes the study purpose and specific aims: to identify CBPR diversity, test the explanatory power of the Model; probe similarities and differences across key model dimensions, i.e., historical-socio-cultural contexts, including governance, trust/mistrust; culturally-centered intervention or policy development; motivations related to participation; associations with outcomes; and promising practices. We will present the mixed-methods design, the universe of 294 federally-funded CBPR partnerships from the 2009 RePORTER; metrics and instruments for two quantitative internet instruments (for Principal Investigators and partners); and seven qualitative case studies (using focus groups, interview guides, and social network analyses); mixed-methods analysis strategies; and suggest preliminary findings. Implications for national and global CBPR partnership evaluation and reflection, measures and metrics toolkits, lessons learned, and promising practices will be drawn. This paper is proposed for a comprehensive panel, including: quantitative analysis findings; impact on governance, comparing tribal sovereignty with populations with more diffuse leadership; trust theory, mixed-methods measures and analyses; and comparison of two CBPR partnerships addressing structural racial inequities.