Community-basedparticipatoryresearchpolicyrecommendationsforpromotingapartnershipapproachinhealthresearch.docVIP

Education for Health, V ol. 14, No. 2, 2001, 182 197 CCPH SPECIAL SECTION Community-based Participatory Research: Policy Recommendations for Promoting a Partnership Approach in Health Research BARBARA A. ISRAEL, Dr.PH1, AMY J. SCHULZ, PhD1 EDITH A. PARKER, Dr.PH1 ADAM B. BECKER, PhD2 1Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, USA ; and 2School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University Medical Center, USA ABSTRACT Community-based participatory research in public health focuses on social, structural, and physical environmental inequities through active involvement of community members, organizational representatives, and researchers in all aspects of the research process. Partners contribute their expertise to enhance understanding of a given phenomenon and integrate the knowledge gained with action to bene t the community involved. This article presents key principles of community-based participatory research ( CBPR ), discusses the rationale for its use, and provides a number of policy recommendations at the organizational, community and national levels aimed at advancing the application of CBPR. While the issues addressed here draw primarily upon experiences in the United States, the emphasis throughout this article on the establishment of policies to enhance equity that would serve both to increase the engagement of communities as partners in health research, and to reduce health disparities, has relevant applications in a global context. KEYWORDS Community-based participatory research, research partnerships for health, policy recommendations for research partnerships. Address for correspondence: Barbara A. Israel, Dr. PH, Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA. Tel: +1-734-647-3184 . Fax: +1-734-763-7379 . E-mail: samanj@ Education for Health ISSN 1357±6283 print/ISSN 1469±5804/online 2001 Ta