摘要：Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is an approach to research and evaluation that is receiving increased attention in the field of public health. Our report discusses the application of this approach to research and evaluation with an Early Head Start (EHS) program in Pittsburgh, Pa. Our primary purpose is to illustrate the key elements that contributed to effective collaboration among researchers, EHS practitioners, and parents of EHS children in the conduct of the study. The focus is not on research findings but on research process. Our goal is to make the practices of CBPR visible and explicit so they can be analyzed, further developed, and effectively applied to a range of public health issues in a diversity of community contexts. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is an approach to research and evaluation that is receiving increased attention in the field of public health. Identified by the Institute of Medicine as one of the focal areas for development of the field, 1 CBPR supports many of the core principles of public health as a science dedicated to improving the health and well-being of diverse communities of people. The W. L. Kellogg Foundation’s Community Health Scholars Program defines CBPR as “a collaborative approach to research that equitably involves all partners in the research process and recognizes the unique strengths that each brings. CBPR begins with a research topic of importance to the community with the aim of combining knowledge and action for social change to improve community health and eliminate health disparities.” 2(p4) CBPR promotes building partnerships between research institutions and local communities. It facilitates the translation of research into practice and fosters the social agency of community members. While these are important considerations in any research effort, they may be particularly important when studies are conducted with racial/ethnic minority communities or with communities that experience other forms of discrimination because of cultural differences or poverty. An underlying premise of the approach is that including community members and community-based service providers as partners in the research process not only is a matter of respect but also increases the capacity of researchers to identify, understand, and effectively address key public health issues. This article discusses applying this approach to research and evaluation with an Early Head Start (EHS) program in Pittsburgh, Pa, as part of the national, multisite EHS Research and Evaluation Project. Our primary objective is to illustrate the key elements that contributed to effective collaboration among researchers, EHS practitioners, and parents of EHS children in conducting the local study. Thus, the focus is not on research findings but on research process. Our experience supports the observations of others that a participatory approach improves the quality and usability of research findings. 3, 4 However, our purpose is not to argue that point but rather to examine some ways in which CBPR can be achieved. In research reports and published articles, such practices often remain hidden and unarticulated. Our goal is to make these practices visible and explicit so they can be analyzed, further developed, and effectively applied to a range of public health issues in a diversity of community contexts.
