Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)

History

CBPR is rooted within social psychologist Kurt Lewin's “action research” school, which rejected traditional notions that objectivity could only be achieved by removing oneself from the community of interest. In the 1940s, Lewin's research focused on creating mutually beneficial relationships between researcher and community and helping community leaders use research data to achieve social change. Lewin's approach emphasized a continuous cycle of planning, action, reflection, and decision making that resembles a spiral of cascading steps.

In the first step, a general issue is identified. Part of what makes the action research approach inherently unique is the belief that this initial issue should come from the community of interest itself, rather than from academia. The results of this community involvement from the start include a community's sense of empowerment, trust in the research team, and investment in the project itself.

The next step is a careful examination of the issue within the context of the community, from which comes an overall plan to guide the research. Action is taken in the next step, after which an evaluation occurs. Whether formal or informal, the evaluation usually results in a revision of the plan and additional action steps, and the cycle continues with the constant reciprocation between researcher and community.

In the 1970s, early examples of participatory research in action appeared in several developing nations, where scholars such as Brazilian educator Paolo Freire rejected “colonial” research methods in favor of more community-oriented ones. Freire's approach built on the critical pedagogy he put forward as a response to the traditional formal models of education in Latin America. Using the same continuous cycle of steps employed by Lewin, Freire examined the process of learning as a way to stimulate critical thinking and raise students' critical awareness of their environment. Inherently political in nature, his approach triggered social changes that reduced the divide between the powerful and the marginalized.

In 1984, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established the Prevention Research Centers (PRC) Program, a network of academic researchers, public health agencies, and community members that conducts applied research in disease prevention and control. The CDC set forth four core values in keeping with the fundamental goals of the CBPR: respect, trust, integrity, and accountability. Key activities of the PRC Program include establishment of multidisciplinary research teams, creation of research networks for priority health issues, generation of long-term relationships for engaging communities as partners in research, and development of public health researchers' skills for working with communities. There are currently more than 30 PRCs located in schools of public health and medicine, enabling academic researchers to easily identify and partner with public health agencies and communities. In 1997, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommended CBPR as one of eight new areas in public health education.

...