Promoting Community-based Participatory Research to Address Disparities in Violence Prevention

Children'S Hosp Of Philadelphia, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Youth violence is a major public health concern, with homicide the leading cause of death among African American adolescents. Exposure to violence is a social determinant contributing to racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic health disparities. Employing a socio-ecologic approach, this proposal seeks to develop an academic-community partnership between The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and WURD, the only African American talk radio station in Pennsylvania, to identify and address community research priorities regarding racial disparities in youth violence. Specific Aim 1: Develop strong partnerships between local community organizations and CHOP that inform a common research agenda to address disparities related to violence in Philadelphia. Aim 1a: Form and convene an Advisory Board of relevant stakeholders that will sustain through the partnership and beyond, with the purpose of identifying appropriate research opportunities and methods of research conduct. Aim 1b: Create a MOU between CHOP researchers and at least one community organization that defines roles and responsibilities in carrying out a CBPR project related to violence prevention, identifies the project teams, and positions the partnered researchers to apply for and obtain federal funding. Specific Aim 2: Establish, through open community dialogue, a research agenda for violence prevention that is salient and relevant to community stakeholders. Aim 2a: Convene, through partnership with WURD forums and workgroup meetings that includes the voices of community adults and youth, with the purpose of establishing a violence prevention research agenda of importance to community members and community-based organizations. Aim 2b: Leverage and enhance existing CBPR forums and pilot funds to further catalyze collaborations between community organizations and academicians related to violence prevention. Specific Aim 3: Promote bidirectional education of academic and community-based researchers regarding the optimal processes for performing and disseminating results of community-based participatory research in violence prevention. Aim 3a: Utilize and enhance existing educational venues to create a sustainable CBPR training program for faculty at CHOP. Aim 3b: Create a sustainable process to disseminate violence prevention resources and educational materials that are relevant and easily digested by youth and adults in the community. This proposal offers the opportunity to create sustainable and meaningful academic-community partnerships to promote CBPR in violence prevention. This application's activities will build and embed mechanisms that combine local expertise and insight with research capabilities, benefitting all participants through information sharing and capacity building. This program can serve as a model for partnered research in other priority areas, leveraging and enhancing existing activities and relationships between CHOP and community agencies.