Power Sharing in Youth-Led Community Campus Partnerships

1. Power Sharing in Youth-Led Community Campus Partnerships Laurie J Bauman Preventive Intervention Research Center Albert Einstein College of Medicine

2. Community Research Partnerships Community-campus partnerships are common and valued Partnerships usually are not �CBPR� i.e., shared power over the study topic, design, methods, analysis and use of results. Sharing power is a challenge Researchers don�t want to give up control Researchers have advantages that make equality difficult This challenge is particularly difficult to manage when the community partners are teenagers The lessons we learned may be useful to any collaboration with vulnerable, disenfranchised groups. Researcher advantages: purse strings, verbal skills, comfort talking in front of a group, confidence, persuasive, authority, titleResearcher advantages: purse strings, verbal skills, comfort talking in front of a group, confidence, persuasive, authority, title

3. CBPR �A collaborative approach to research that equitably involves all partners in the research process and recognizes the unique strengths that each brings.� CBPR begins with a research topic of importance to the community and has the aim of combining knowledge with action and achieving social change...� --Community Health Scholars Program, WK Kellogg Foundation �from acting upon to acting with� There are multiple definitions for community-based participatory research (CBPR). We have chosen to highlight the definition used by the Key words here are �collaborative,� �equitably,� �partners,� ��combining knowledge with action� and �achieving social change.�� The intent in CBPR is to transform research from a relationship where researchers�act upon�a community to answer a research question to one where researchers�work side by side�with community members to define the questions and methods, implement the research, disseminate the findings and apply them. �Community members become part of the research team and researchers become engaged in the activities of the community.�.� In the 1940s Kurt Lewin began talking about�action research�as a means to overcoming social inequalities; he also rejected the notion that in order for researchers to be �objective� they needed to remove themselves from the community of interest. Later writings by educator Paulo Freire in the 1970s brought to the fore issues of having communities identify their own problems and solutions. The rationale for CBPR builds on this history. Below are reasons why more communities and researchers today are increasingly turning to CBPR approaches to research:There are multiple definitions for community-based participatory research (CBPR). We have chosen to highlight the definition used by the Key words here are �collaborative,� �equitably,� �partners,� ��combining knowledge with action� and �achieving social change.�� The intent in CBPR is to transform research from a relationship where researchers�act upon�a community to answer a research question to one where researchers�work side by side�with community members to define the questions and methods, implement the research, disseminate the findings and apply them. �Community members become part of the research team and researchers become engaged in the activities of the community.�.� In the 1940s Kurt Lewin began talking about�action research�as a means to overcoming social inequalities; he also rejected the notion that in order for researchers to be �objective� they needed to remove themselves from the community of interest. Later writings by educator Paulo Freire in the 1970s brought to the fore issues of having communities identify their own problems and solutions. The rationale for CBPR builds on this history. Below are reasons why more communities and researchers today are increasingly turning to CBPR approaches to research:

4. Rationale for CBPR Traditional research has failed to solve complex health disparities.� research designs fail to incorporate multi-level explanations of health researchers do not understand many of the social and economic complexities motivating individuals� and families� behaviors. Community members are angry about being �guinea pigs� in parachute research and demand that research address their locally identified needs.� recruiting research participants is harder communities feel used by researchers in the past; researchers get their publications, communities got nothing in return

5. Rationale, continued Community involvement improves the science identify variables design and adaptation of research instruments identify important program components assist with cultural/normative fit True collaboration can rebuild trust and respect between researchers and communities

6. Teenagers as Community Partners in CBPR?! CBPR has focused a good deal on youth However, most projects rely on youth as advisors not as partners We were funded by NCMHD in November 2005 to work with youth as partners to reduce health disparities among Bronx teenagers (R24 MD001784) We had to design an infrastructure that would support youth as a community and give them control over the project. The idea of CBPR with youth may seem pretty impossible. How could youth be full partners in research? At least that�s what my Dean said! Certainly advisors, maybe a token involvement; but how realistic is it to give youth community partners control over a project? But read slide �even recently reviews of my CBPR projects say the idea of a youth led partnership was �more esoteric than practical,� and �questionable The idea of CBPR with youth may seem pretty impossible. How could youth be full partners in research? At least that�s what my Dean said! Certainly advisors, maybe a token involvement; but how realistic is it to give youth community partners control over a project? But read slide �even recently reviews of my CBPR projects say the idea of a youth led partnership was �more esoteric than practical,� and �questionable

7. Goals for this Presentation Describe how we applied principles of CBPR when the community is teenagers Describe the challenges to true power sharing with youth and some solutions Describe the health disparity youth chose and why Describe the intervention they developed

8. Bronx Youth as Partners in CBPR GOAL: To reduce health disparities among African American and Latino youth in the Bronx Using Community-based participatory research with our community, Bronx adolescents our agenda in this 3-year project was: Year 01: Choose one health disparity Year 02: Develop an intervention Year 03: Pilot the intervention Year 04-09 Continuation for RCT to test the intervention

9. To do that we created a project planning group of teens and adults. Within a couple of weeks, teens had changed the name to Alberts Leaders of Tomorrow, or A LOT and aws a member of A LOT I am indeed a leader of tomorrow, To do that we created a project planning group of teens and adults. Within a couple of weeks, teens had changed the name to Alberts Leaders of Tomorrow, or A LOT and aws a member of A LOT I am indeed a leader of tomorrow,

10. A.L.O.T. Composition 14 Bronx teenagers aged 14-19 Two researchers Two program specialists Two physicians Support Three staff members Outside evaluator, 4 interns, website coordinator BYAP Coalition, 20 Bronx organizations