CPH 636 Community Based Participatory Research

This course examines Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) as a research paradigm to understand and address health disparities at the community level. Review of operating principles includes the central place that communities are accorded as units of identity and as co-equals in research, a process that is perceived by community constituents as not dominated by elitists, an emphasis on long-term commitment by all partners, emphasis on co-learning so that the process flows back and forth, use of exercises that stimulate collective visioning among all partners, incorporation of social ecology approaches as departures for research and practice, use of innovative problem solving approaches and use of multiple methods of data collection. Topics include community theory, development strategies, promising interventions, group development techniques, community diagnosis, and capacity assessments.