Community-Based Participatory Research
Community-based participatory research (CBPR) ideally represents an equal partnership between academic investigators and community members and leaders in all stages of research – from planning through implementation and dissemination. CBPR deeply engages the “subjects” of the research and gives back to the community as much or more than it takes from the community. Community-based participatory research may help to dispel mistrust and create practical, culturally appropriate programs, a crucial step in beginning to address persistent health disparities in our society.
The University of Chicago has a rich tradition of working with communities and helping develop community-based interventions. UC investigators and community partners are working to expand their current work in CBPR for health care and disease prevention and management, in concert with the research component of the emerging Urban Health Initiative, and with support through the CTSA. The Co-Leaders of the CBPR unit are Drs. Deborah Burnet (Internal Medicine & Pediatrics) and Daniel Johnson (Pediatrics). Current CBPR research includes the REACH-OUT Chicago Children’s Diabetes Prevention Program, in which lay leaders identified from within the African American community on Chicago’s South Side conduct group nutrition and exercise sessions for families at risk for diabetes (9-12 year old children and their parents). Sessions are held at the South Side YMCA and a local grocery market, and families follow up periodically at the University of Chicago for measurement of height and weight, and levels of blood sugar, insulin, and cholesterol. Other pilot projects include work with churches on Chicago’s South Side to develop their health ministry programs, and collaborative work with a community group to assess smoking cessation among residents of a local housing project.
Click here for a slide show about CBPR provided by Sarah Gehlert, PhD, former Associate Director of the ITM and Co-leader of the ITM's Community Translational Science Cluster.
Please contact Dr. Burnet with any questions regarding Community-Based Participatory Research..