Community-Based Participatory Research

Societal critiques of higher education and legacies of exploitation in academic research gave rise to community-based participatory research (CBPR) in health-related disciplines.

[Page 239]Colleges and universities in the United States initially were founded to generate knowledge for the betterment of communal living. Critics contend that the academy has drifted from its core mission and too often remains disconnected from broader communities. Meanwhile, academics genuinely interested in engaged scholarship sometimes face skepticism from communities historically taken advantage of by researchers. In the late 1990s, the Carnegie and Kellogg Foundations challenged universities to respond more adequately to health concerns by practicing scholarship in partnership with community members. CBPR gained traction as an approach that invites campus and community participants to work together to address pressing social issues and ...