Community-Based Participatory Research: Valuable and Versatile

Abstract

Community Based Participatory Research—CBPR—is a unique research approach that involves community members alongside qualified professional and academic researchers to pinpoint issues and to actively find solutions to mutual problems (Ward 2018).
CBPR has two critical aspects: integrating local, scientific knowledge and employing community capacity building strategies. These aspects are specific to the community problem at hand and are tested by CBPR participating researchers. Communities are encouraged to create and to
implement problem-solving tools without the help of experts. Both aspects pave the way for hands-on involvement from community members; from formulating research questions to developing and testing interventions (Windsor et al, 2014).
CBPR research is vital because academic and community partners learn from each other, which fosters the key research principle of community capacity building research (Israel et al. 2003). On one end, community members teach researchers about local health disparities, issues, and
community priorities. These can range from HIV-prevention in New Jersey, to improving air quality in Southwest Baltimore, to creating pathways to trauma stabilization in Pakistan. CBPR research has proven to be successful in multiple regions and fields.
Conversely, researchers take this information and use research methods to not only create tools to solve local problems, but to also teach community members how to use these tools (Wallerstein & Duran 2006). The goal is to find pertinent solutions to current problems, and the best way to test solutions is to gain feedback from those who are directly affected.