{"id":93707,"date":"2019-04-01T12:58:02","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T22:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=93707"},"modified":"2020-01-31T13:12:54","modified_gmt":"2020-01-31T23:12:54","slug":"public-health-community-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2019\/04\/01\/public-health-community-research\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr>+community=beneficial health outcomes"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Group
Katherine Yang, second from left, and her public health classmates volunteered at K\u014dkua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services. (Photo courtesy of Katherine Yang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When researchers work together with community members to conduct studies to address health disparities, both groups reap the benefits, says a new paper led by faculty in the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work<\/a> at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa<\/a> campus.<\/p>\n

The study was published<\/a> in a recent issue of the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Journal of Medicine and Public Health<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Katherine Yang<\/strong>, a recent master’s graduate<\/a> from the UH<\/abbr> Office of Public Health Studies<\/a> and a current PhD<\/abbr> student<\/a> in epidemiology<\/a>, and colleagues conducted detailed interviews with 12 leading local experts. The goal is to learn about their experiences in using a community-based participatory research (CBPR<\/abbr>) approach to improve health outcomes and promote health equity.<\/p>\n

“In CBPR<\/abbr>, researchers take the time to get to know their communities by being present and listening to their concerns and priorities,” Yang said. “Our analysis showed that CBPR<\/abbr> can serve as a bridge between academic researchers and the communities that they study.”<\/p>\n

A true partnership<\/h2>\n

CBPR<\/abbr> projects involve community members not as research “subjects,” but as active participants and co-leaders in all research phases. Community members work closely with researchers to conduct the study from beginning to end.<\/p>\n

Research that uses a CBPR<\/abbr> approach starts with an issue that is important to the community, values reciprocal learning and benefits and promotes social action.<\/p>\n

For example, in one project, researchers who were developing a substance abuse prevention program worked with ōpio (teenagers) in a rural Hawaiian community. The teens took pictures of things that represented Native Hawaiian values to them, and then worked with the researchers to use the photos in designing a public health intervention to prevent substance use.<\/p>\n

“Community members feel engaged when they know their voices matter and that research is relevant to their experiences, concerns and priorities,” said Jane J. Chung-Do<\/strong>, an associate professor with UH<\/abbr> public health and co-author of the paper. “We wanted to better understand what makes these projects successful and what we can work on to advance CBPR<\/abbr> in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.”<\/p>\n

For the full story, see the UH<\/abbr> public health website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

—By Theresa Kreif<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers take the time to get to know their communities by being present and listening to their concerns and priorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[1045,1363,241,449,158,596,9],"class_list":["post-93707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-epidemiology","tag-manoa-research","tag-public-health","tag-public-health-sciences","tag-publication","tag-myron-b-thompson-school-of-social-work","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t