Advancing Health Equity: An Innovative Program for Building Community Engagement in Research.

BACKGROUND: The Community Research Fellows (CRF) program seeks to mobilize New Haven residents with lower incomes or from communities of color who are educated and equipped to engage as equal partners in health research at Yale University. The training program combines curriculum-based information with 'on-the-ground' experience with Yale research projects, while building relationships between CRFs and researchers. The Community Alliance for Research and Engagement launched two consecutive cohorts of the program in 2018-2020. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of the CRF program on participants' knowledge of the research process and confidence to engage in research and participants' satisfaction and perspectives on the program. METHODS: The evaluation of the CRF program included four components: 1) Pre- and Post- Program Surveys to assess change in confidence and self-reported knowledge. 2) Curriculum Feedback Satisfaction Survey to gauge satisfaction and make program improvements after each training session. 3) Post-Program CRF Interviews to explore their CRF experiences. 4) Research Team Surveys to assess program satisfaction and areas for improvement. RESULTS: CRFs reported increased confidence and knowledge, personal and professional growth, and interest in community-engaged research. Overall, participants were very satisfied with each training module. CONCLUSIONS: The CRF program demonstrated that community members are well-suited, well-positioned, and eager to engage in and inform public health research. CRFs bring capacity and valuable perspective to research teams. The CRF training program offers an innovative approach to address power imbalances in research and to move towards more equitable community-university partnerships for improved health outcomes.

"The drug issue really isn't the main problem"- A photovoice study on community perceptions of place, health, and substance abuse.

Substance abuse is a complex and challenging public health problem. In order to better address substance abuse, it is vital to understand the perspectives of people whose communities are disproportionately impacted by it. This photovoice study aimed to understand how community members perceive the relationship between place, health, and substance abuse in Hartford, Connecticut, one city grappling with substance abuse and its related challenges. Findings revealed three themes: perceived place-based environmental risk factors for substance abuse; coping strategies to maintain sobriety in this challenging environmental context; and participants' recommendations for addressing substance abuse. Implications are discussed.

Honouring the role of community in community health work with Cambodian Americans.

Despite surviving extreme forms of violence, torture and other traumas during the Khmer Rouge genocide and forced migration, Cambodian Americans experience devastating health inequities and barriers to health access in the United States (U.S.). From the perspective of Cambodian American community health workers (CHWs), we explored three aims in this community-based participatory research (CBPR), qualitative study: Cambodian Americans' understanding of health, community health work strategies that improve health access of Cambodian Americans, and action steps that improve health access for Cambodian Americans. From 2014 to 2016, our two-phased study spanned seven U.S. states, which included a focus group (n = 5) and 16 semistructured interviews. Participants identified an indigenous concept of health, and micro-level (e.g. service navigation, peer education) and mezzo-level interventions (e.g. community building, coalition work) to improve health access. Finally, Khmer Health Advocates, a community-based health advocacy organisation, served as a vital study partner in this CBPR study.

Stress and the social determinants of maternal health among Puerto Rican women: a CBPR approach.

This qualitative research project explores how poverty, the built environment, education, working conditions, health care access, food insecurity and perceived discrimination are experienced by Puerto Rican Latinas through the course of their lives. Five focus groups were conducted with the primary objective of documenting community experiences and perspectives regarding: 1) stress, including perceived discrimination based on race/ethnicity (racism); 2) the impact of stress on Puerto Rican women of reproductive age, their families, and/or their community; and 3) stressors that affect maternal health. Focus groups were conducted in English and Spanish in the two cities with the highest rates of premature birth and low infant birthweight in the state of Connecticut. Focus group findings indicate that participants perceived poverty, food insecurity, lack of access to quality education, and unsafe environments as significant life stressors affecting maternal and child health.

Review of The colors within: One rainbow reclaimed.

Reviews the book, The colors within: One rainbow reclaimed by Jana Adams (2006). In this book, the author uses an illustrated fairy tale to depict the recovery process of one abused child as she navigates the complex journey into adulthood. Vivid metaphors, compelling language, and powerful images that capture both the fundamental loss experienced by an abused child and her gradual restoration of an integrated sense of self comprise this beautifully written book. Touching on the many challenges faced by survivors of childhood abuse, Adams provides a picture that trauma clinicians will recognize as an accurate characterization of the issues often confronted by the patients they treat. The unique value of this book lies in its potential as a therapeutic tool to help patients process traumatic experiences related to abuse. It will be of interest to any clinician who seeks to understand trauma from a nonacademic perspective and aspires to utilize a creative form of treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).