Community-based Research Project Research Articles

Exploring Students’ Feelings in the Initial Phase of a Community-Based Research Service-Learning Course: A Qualitative Approach Using Content Analysis

The emotional experience of situations and interactions with other people plays an important role in teaching and learning processes and interacts with cognitive as well as motivational and intentional factors in the acquisition of knowledge. In our qualitative investigation, we explored participants’ experiences in the initial phase of a community-based research service-learning project that dealt with issues of social inequality, poverty and homelessness. We were particularly interested in the affective processes in the project’s planning phase and during the first meetings between community partners, homeless people and the participating students. After completing the course, we conducted guided qualitative online interviews with the course participants. The interviews were fully transcribed verbatim. We then coded and analysed the data using qualitative content analysis approach. It became apparent that the students were particularly anxious and apprehensive about working with vulnerable groups of people. This manifested itself in uncertainty, nervousness, fears and negative feelings. Regarding the collaboration with the community partners, the emotional situation varied among the students in the initial phase. We conclude that students’ fears, anxieties, and uncertainties in the planning phase of a service-learning or community-based research project should be taken seriously. A relaxed and positive atmosphere at the first meetings can be viewed as particularly important for project progression and the students’ future learning success.

ʻĀina as resilience: mapping community networks and collaborative care in Hawaiʻi

This article examines the growth of Indigenous grassroots community groups across Hawaiʻi, whose efforts are pivotal to place-based climate change resilience and community well-being. Instead of focusing on specific ecosystem resilience actions, it highlights the people and places that make this movement of community organizations resilient, leveraging both social and cultural strengths to adapt to climate impacts. For many Indigenous peoples, climate change is not new; adaptation has already been integral to relationships between environment and culture. These changes require culturally responsive approaches, not short-term engineering solutions such as coastal hardening or stream channelization. A collaboration between a grassroots artist mapping initiative (‘ĀINAVIS) and a university’s community-based research project (‘ĀINA KUPU), this study utilizes a novel data index compiled using publicly available information to inform a series of in-depth student interviews with community groups across Hawai‘i whose mission, vision, and work are dedicated to caring for ‘āina. We find that these “ʻĀina Organizations” articulate climate resilience in multi-faceted and culturally grounded ways, maintaining reciprocal and mutual relationships with ʻāina, the Hawaiian term for land meaning “that which feeds.” Facing various challenges and needing different systems of support, our work maps the dynamic adaptability of ‘āina expressed through community networks of collaborative care with emphasis on the importance of intergenerational knowledge and genealogical connection to place shared and passed onto future generations. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of working on ‘āina as an exercise of Indigenous sovereignty, expanding climate resilience with cultural practice and social justice as both outcome and process of climate change adaptation.

The Impact of Community-Based Tourism on Human-Jaguar Interactions in Central Amazonia

ABSTRACT Tourism has been indicated as an economic alternative to alleviate the burdens of human–wildlife conflicts. Our objective was to investigate the effects of community-based tourism and research on traditional communities’ interactions with jaguars. This study was carried out in Mamirauá Reserve in the Brazilian Amazon, where a community-based tourism initiative operates and community-based research projects take place. One hundred and two semi-structured interviews were conducted in local communities between February 2020 and November 2021. General linear models were used to test if involvement with tourism or community-based research affected the measured variables. Where tourism was present, tolerance toward jaguars was higher. Areas where tourism and research were present had more positive attitudes toward jaguars, as well as a lower intention to kill jaguars. Our findings suggest that community-based tourism-related activities and research projects have had a positive effect on local human-jaguar relationships, improving tolerance and attitudes toward jaguars.

How immigration shapes health disadvantages and what healthcare organizations can do to deliver more equitable care.

That immigration is a determinant of health and that immigration systems themselves contribute to structural disadvantage remains under-addressed within healthcare in Canada. This article offers context for how immigration shapes health, and recommendations for how health systems can be better prepared to respond to the diverse needs of immigrants and migrants (together referred to as im/migrants), based on a community-based research project in British Columbia. Findings call attention to the varied and intersecting ways in which immigration status, access to health insurance, language, experiences of trauma and discrimination, lack of support for health system limits access to healthcare, and the roles community-based organizations play in supporting access. Recommendations are intended to help make sure that all health services are accessible to everyone, and move beyond a homogenizing category of "newcomers" into practical, meaningful strategies that attend to diverse and intersecting community needs.

Belonging, care, and support: findings from Ottawa’s healthy end of life project

ABSTRACT With a rapidly aging population, Canada has a growing need for public health palliative care services. End of life care, including palliative care, is holistic in nature, paying attention to the physical, psychological, social-cultural, and spiritual needs of the person who is dying and their networks of friends, family, and caregivers. Public health approaches to palliative care work to strengthen community capacities to provide care in tandem with medical and social services. This study reports on the findings of the Healthy End of Life Project (HELP Ottawa), a 4.5-year community-based research project, to demonstrate the importance of including faith communities in public health palliative care initiatives. Focusing on Christian faith communities, this article explores how faith communities can best build the capacity to offer, ask for, and accept support for members who are living with advanced illness, caregiving, or grieving.

Teaching Research Methods through a Community-Based Research Project: Connecting Theory and Practice to Make it “Real” for Students

This paper describes the experience of teaching an undergraduate research methods course through a qualitative community-based research project and the impact of that approach on student learning. Course composition and design are outlined, followed by the community-based research project’s impetus, focal research questions, and implementation protocol. Evidence of the impact on learning for the fifteen students in the course is drawn from three sources: reflection papers, student comments on formal course evaluations, and pre and post-test (survey) self-assessments of student knowledge. Collectively, the data suggest student learning was supported in several ways: by enhancing their ability to connect theory with practice, increasing appreciation of the scope and rigor of social science research procedures, viewing research as a vehicle to develop empathy, and recognizing the utility of research skills to job-readiness. Challenges and critiques related to implementing this type of project are also discussed.

Validity and reliability of the Persian version of food preferences questionnaire (Persian-FPQ) in Iranian adolescents

The assessment of dietary intakes and habits using reliable and youth-specific measurement tools during adolescence is essential. The aim of the present study was to culturally adapt and investigate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the food preferences questionnaire (Persian-FPQ) among Iranian adolescents. This methodological cross-sectional study was conducted among 452 Persian-speaking adolescents, living in Isfahan, Iran. Translation of the FPQ was performed using forward–backward method. Intra Class Correlation (ICC) and Cronbach’s α were used to assess test–retest reliability and internal consistency, respectively. Construct validity was investigated by using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Divergent validity was determined using correlation analysis with Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10). Known-group validity was assessed based on differences in mean food preference score between boys and girls and different categories of body mass index (BMI). The internal and external reliabilities for the Persian-FPQ were in the range of good to excellent in all domains (Cronbach’s α: 0.76–0.96 and ICCs: 0.982–0.998). Boys had higher scores of food preferences than girls, indicating good known-group validity. Construct validity evaluated by EFA led to extraction of seven factors (“Vegetables”, “Fruit”, “Dairy”, “Snacks”, “Meat/Fish”, “Starches” and “Miscellaneous foods”), explaining 37.8% of the variance. Divergent validity revealed significant negative correlations between five sub-scales of the Persian-FPQ and psychological distress. The Persian version of the FPQ is a reliable and valid instrument with applicability in a broad range of the population of Persian-speaking adolescents for assessing food preferences in community-based research projects.

Aftermath of a Storm: Women and Reparations for Residential School Abuses

This article is an effort to explain how a gender-specific (women only) community-based research project, working in partnership with an Indigenous women’s organization, made visible issues of gender, sexuality, and race in the Indian residential school (IRS) compensation claims process. The study focused on the Independent Assessment Process (IAP), which involved an out-of-court adjudication whereby IRS Survivors gave oral testimony to an adjudicator about serious physical and sexual abuses they experienced at IRS and the consequential harms. The IAP was a key part of the IRS Settlement Agreement. The article discusses the IAP in the context of Canada’s colonial history, and then it provides, through results of a community-based study, insights from Survivors, support workers, and adjudicators. The study demonstrated how the absence of a gender lens in legal policy and practices can create unfair bias and, conversely, how attention to gender, sexuality, and race can assist in mitigating colonial or settler bias. The article was inspired by a 2014 Queen’s University Faculty of Law conference in honour of the late Dr. Patricia Monture.

Navigating Everyday Multiculturalism in the Culture Chats Writing Program

Taking a grounded approach to multiculturalism and the lens of informal learning and community of practice, this study reports findings from a community-based collaborative research project that explored a group of immigrant women writers’ perceptions of and experiences with multiculturalism in a community writing workshop in Metro Vancouver, a highly multicultural and multilingual regional district in the Province of British Columbia. Drawing on observation, interviews, and written artifacts created by women writers regarding their experiences with and reflection on everyday multicultural encounters, we illustrate how learning possibilities and multilayered dimensions of multiculturalism unfolded within the quotidian intercultural setting of the writing workshop, and how the shared practices of writing and intercultural communication contributed to the construction of an ephemeral community of “hybrid knowing and knowledge.”

Investigating Health Literacy in Thalassemia: Founding a Patient-Led Research Approach

Background: Thalassemia is a hereditary hemolytic anemia (HHA) with a variable phenotype and clinical severity, and constantly changing demographic profile. Despite advances in management, there are many unmet needs in this diverse population, with needs varying among different groups. The Thalassemia Advocacy Advisory Council (Thal AAC) was founded to define and better understand the unmet needs of the thalassemia patient community. This ten-person group consists of patients, caregivers, advocates, and healthcare professionals (HCPs) from six countries (USA N=5, Cyprus N=1, Italy N=1, Greece N=1, Taiwan N=1, Brazil N=1). We describe how the Thal AAC sought to better define the global community's unmet needs following a multi-step process of collecting, reviewing, and prioritizing the unmet needs experienced by patients with thalassemia (Figure). The process was coordinated, moderated, and supported by Agios Pharmaceuticals. Method: Thal AAC members shared their personal perspective on community unmet needs through a qualitative survey, which included open-ended questions aiming to collect each member's perspective on the top three unmet needs for patients and HCPs in their region and globally. Results were consolidated and reviewed by the AAC in a series of workshops. Two key unmet needs were highlighted: Among patients, there is a lack of understanding of the disease and both long- and short-term complications, which can lead to poor adherence to standard of careAmongst HCPs, improved education and advocacy are needed to support patient access to care, including innovative therapy options and research Based on these findings, the group aligned on the need for better education and understanding of the disease from a patient and HCP perspective, with health literacy (HL) being the central theme that tied these points together. With the goal of broadening understanding of patient HL, the Thal AAC defined four key sub-topics to investigate further: Patients' knowledge of the diseaseChallenges faced by patients in improving their HLPossible motivators for improving HLChannels and formats through which patients seek disease information. A non-exhaustive evidence audit of English-language literature published in the last 10 years on HL in thalassemia was conducted within PubMed and Cochrane databases using key search terms targeting thalassemia, similar hereditary hemolytic diseases, and HL. The published literature, was supplemented with patient advocacy group knowledge and data from other community-based research. Results: The audit showed that there is limited published literature or evidence for HL in the context of thalassemia and related hemolytic anemias (N=58). The format and delivery of information emerged as an important research topic in the context of rare diseases generally, but not thalassemia specifically. Although barriers and challenges to improving HL were studied in the literature (N=9), thalassemia-related items make up only ~10% (N=1), and there is relatively no research into the motivators for improving HL related to disease and outcomes. Thus, patients and their HCPs share unmet informational and educational needs, particularly regarding the long-term implications of inadequate treatment and care. Conclusion: The findings of the audit indicate a clear gap in thalassemia HL research. This gap may create scenarios in which not every patient with thalassemia accesses optimal care, which may have consequences for their long-term health. This provided the impetus for the AAC to launch a community-based, multi-national patient advocacy research initiative, comprising of a global survey and follow-up qualitative interviews, to better understand the community's perspective on HL in thalassemia. Insights from this survey will be used to share learnings and calls to action with community stakeholders, with an aim of contributing to the improvement of thalassemia patient outcomes and care. Thus, the AAC's findings have led to new insights which, in turn, have formed the foundation of a community-based research project.

Estimation of prevalence of risk factor of hypertension among population of Wardha district between age group of 35-60 years: a study protocol.

A serious medical condition known as hypertension or elevated blood pressure significantly rises the risk of brain, heart, kidney, and other medical conditions. It is the most common cardiovascular disease globally and is now recognized as a major health issue that needs to be addressed. It serves as a warning sign for serious illnesses including myocardial infarction, stroke and renal failure. An estimated 46% of the population with hypertension are not aware of the condition they have. Only 42% of those diagnosed with hypertension receive a diagnosis and treatment. 21% (1/5) of the population who have hypertension have it under control. Around the world, high blood pressure (HBP) is a main cause of early death. Knowledge on the prevalence of risk factors for hypertension is needed because there are relatively few community-based research projects on the condition. The objective of this study is to assess the prevalence of hypertension risk factor in the Wardha district in the state of Maharashtra in western India. A cross-sectional study will be performed. The study’s strength lies in the use of a standardized risk factor check list, which will ensure consistency in data collection and minimize bias. The use of a large sample size (165 patients) will also improve the precision of study and increase the generalization of the result.

Community-Based Teacher Education: The Experiences of Teacher Candidates Learning Alongside Grassroots Youth Organizers

This community-based action research (CBAR) project acknowledges and disrupts existing systemic barriers to bring teacher candidates and grassroots youth organizers together through dialogue and reflection for transformative action. The practice of community-based pedagogy is described and utilized to demonstrate how critical understandings of community may imagine new ways of learning in conventional teacher education programs. This process enhances teacher candidates’ understanding and use of community-based pedagogy while supporting youth organizers in social justice initiatives within schools and communities. The findings, which draw from the CBAR project of a white, cis-gender woman who is a teacher educator-scholar-community organizer, provide implications for teacher educators aiming to foster collaborative partnerships with youth-centered grassroots community organizations and intergenerational community members. Teacher educators are invited to engage in paradigm shifts to curate community-based teacher education programs that are stimulated by and benefit local schools and communities.

Healthy Housing in Richardsville: A Photovoice Project on Community Livability for Aging Adults

Aging in place refers to staying in one’s home well into older age. When gentrification occurs, older adults face financial challenges in sustaining affordable housing. Resident displacement results when moderate to high-income home buyers stream into neighborhoods and drive property values to prohibitive levels. Richardsville (pseudonym) is one of many communities in Atlanta’s inner city that has transformed from a blighted, long-derelict area to a hotbed of high rent apartment units, mixed with quarter-million-dollar-plus homes. Richardsville Senior Residences, an affordable rental unit, was built to provide housing for a mix of incomes and ages and retain longtime residents in Atlanta’s neighborhoods. In this community-based research project, we explore the lived experiences of eight older adults in a series of focus groups to discuss photographic images and give meaning to understand how they described aging in place. Common narratives among participants include access to outdoor spaces, smoke-free facilities, health and wellness, access to services, and social connections.

Community-Engaged Research for Economic Justice: Reflections on Concepts and Practices

The growing practice of community-engaged research (CER) creates new opportunities for practitioners, both to affirm the importance of critical approaches to CER and to strengthen our work by reflecting on the concepts and practices of our research. We offer reflections on the meanings of “community,” “engagement,” and “research” in the context of on-the-ground community–university collaborations conducted by the Blum Center on Poverty, Social Enterprise, and Participatory Governance, a campus-based research center at the University of California, Santa Cruz. This account is provided in the spirit of sharing observations, insights, and lessons learned about CER, generated through its practice in a range of community-based research projects.

Institutionalizing Community-Based Research

Institutionalizing Community-Based Research

Estimation of prevalence of risk factor of hypertension among population of Wardha district between age group of 35-60 years: a study protocol.

A serious medical condition known as hypertension or elevated blood pressure significantly rises the risk of brain, heart, kidney, and other medical conditions. It is the most common cardiovascular disease globally and is now recognized as a major health issue that needs to be addressed. It serves as a warning sign for serious illnesses including myocardial infarction, stroke and renal failure. An estimated 46% of the population with hypertension are not aware of the condition they have. Only 42% of those diagnosed with hypertension receive a diagnosis and treatment. 21% (1/5) of the population who have hypertension have it under control. Around the world, high blood pressure (HBP) is a main cause of early death. Knowledge on the prevalence of risk factors for hypertension is needed because there are relatively few community-based research projects on the condition. The objective of this study is to assess the prevalence of hypertension risk factor in the Wardha district in the state of Maharashtra in western India. A cross-sectional study will be performed. The study’s strength lies in the use of a standardized risk factor check list, which will ensure consistency in data collection and minimize bias. The use of a large sample size (165 patients) will also improve the precision of study and increase the generalization of the result.

Medical student intentions to practice internal medicine in underserved areas associated with debt, identity and extracurricular participation

BackgroundCurrently, Internal Medicine (IM) physicians do not reflect the ethno-racial diversity of the US population. Moreover, there is a shortage of IM physicians in Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) in the US. The purpose of this study was to determine factors that influence medical students’ intent to practice IM in MUAs. We hypothesized students with intentions to pursue a career in IM and work in MUAs were more likely than their peers to identify as underrepresented in medicine (URiM), report greater student debt loads, and report medical school experiences in cultural competencies.MethodsWe analyzed de-identified data of 67,050 graduating allopathic medical students who completed the Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) Medical School annual Graduation Questionnaire (GQ) between 2012–2017 by multivariate logistic regression models, examining intent to practice IM in MUAs based on respondent characteristics.ResultsOf 8,363 students indicating an intent to pursue IM, 1,969 (23.54%) students also expressed an intent to practice in MUAs. Students awarded scholarships, (aOR: 1.23, [1.03–1.46]), with debt greater than $300,000 (aOR: 1.54, [1.21–1.95], and self-identified non-Hispanic Black/African American (aOR: 3.79 [2.95–4.87]) or Hispanic (aOR: 2.53, [2.05–3.11]) students were more likely than non-Hispanic White students to indicate intent to practice in MUAs. This pattern also existed for students who participated in a community-based research project (aOR: 1.55, [1.19–2.01]), had experiences related to health disparities (aOR: 2.13, [1.44–3.15]), or had experiences related to global health (aOR: 1.75, [1.34–2.28]).ConclusionsWe identified experiences and characteristics that associate with intention to practice IM in MUAs, which can aid future curricular redesign by medical schools to expand and deepen comprehension of health disparities, access to community-based research, and global health experiences. Loan forgiveness programs and other initiatives to increase recruitment and retention of future physicians should also be developed.

Squeezed in and pushed out: dual and contradictory displacements in Santa Ana, CA

This research examines housing insecurity and displacement within a gentrifying context. Through an interpretive analysis of four years of survey data produced through a community-based research (CBR) project on households in the Lacy neighborhood within the City of Santa Ana, California, we find that the neighborhood is simultaneously a site of eviction-based displacement and extreme overcrowding. The results complicate assumptions in the literature regarding the quantification of gentrification and suggest that in addition to direct spatial dislocation and the outward movement of households, highly localized micro-gentrification and regional exclusion may together produce forms of extreme spatial concentration within neighborhoods that make estimating gentrification-induced displacement difficult. Ultimately, by drawing attention to the combination of contrary displacement forms and observable housing deprivation, we argue that the special conditions that have emerged in the Lacy neighborhood are representative of a housing submarket that combines exclusion and insecurity with unequal exchange for renters.

Community-Based Participatory Gender and Sexualities Research With LGBTQ+ People With Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities

In this article, we discuss practical lessons for promoting meaningful collaboration in inclusive and community-based participatory gender and sexualities research with LGBTQ+ people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. First, we describe the historical and ongoing exclusion from research engagement of people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and the importance of including LGBTQ+ people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities in inclusive and community-based research projects that address gender and sexuality. Then, we provide reflections on how we are striving to embrace core principles of community-based participatory research in our current gender and sexualities research projects. Finally, we end with a call to action for future meaningful and collaborative research that addresses gender and sexuality in the lives of people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.

Perspectives on COVID-19 Vaccination and Vaccine Passports in a Diverse Urban Adolescent Population: A Youth Participatory Mixed Methods Study

PurposeDisparities in youth COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and uptake have been documented in several countries, yet few studies have explored the attitudes and perceptions underlying vaccine-related decision-making among adolescent populations with unique sociocultural, environmental, and/or structural contexts that may influence vaccine uptake. MethodsThis study used data from surveys and semistructured interviews collected between January and March 2022 as part of an ongoing community-based research project in two ethnoculturally diverse, lower income neighborhoods of Montreal, Canada. Youth researchers designed and conducted interviews with unvaccinated adolescents, and thematic analysis was employed to explore attitudes and perceptions underlying vaccine-related decisions and opinions about vaccine passports. Survey data were used to describe sociodemographic and psychological determinants of COVID-19 vaccination. ResultsAmong 315 survey participants aged 14–17 years, most (74%) were fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Prevalence ranged from 57% among Black adolescents to 91% among South and/or Southeast Asian adolescents (34% difference, 95% confidence interval: 20–49). Qualitative and quantitative findings highlighted several misconceptions about the safety, effectiveness, and necessity of COVID-19 vaccines and adolescents' desire for trusted sources of information to address their concerns. Vaccine passports likely increased uptake, yet adolescents were strongly resistant to the policy, and for some, it may have fueled distrust of government and scientific institutions. DiscussionStrategies that increase the trustworthiness of institutions and foster genuine partnership with underserved youth may improve vaccine confidence and help ensure an effective, proequity recovery from COVID-19.