Year 1 Lessons Learned in Building and Sustaining Community-Academic Interdisciplinary Partnerships to Improve Maternal Health

Abstract

ABSTRACT To understand current maternal health outcomes and growing health disparities, this interdisciplinary project investigates the development of a community advisory board (CAB), guided by the principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR), which explores the perspectives of providers, community stakeholders, and students. This step-by-step process analysis allows for greater clarity and recognition of areas to consider in future CAB initiatives and use of interprofessional education. Both quantitative and qualitative principles were used to assess and evaluate the process, including survey, observation, and content analysis. While this project remains in the early stages, promising results have emerged supporting strong group dynamics and commitment toward change in the local community while identifying improvements to the overall delivery of the CAB and CBPR process.