Increasing research capacity in community organizations: Findings from the Community Research Scholars Initiative

Cyleste Collins, Jacqueline Dolata, Earl Pike and Ashwini Sehgal

Evaluation and Program Planning, 2023, vol. 96, issue C

Abstract: Increasing research capacity in community-based organizations (CBOs) can equip the organizations to be more equal partners in academic/community partnerships and can help them be more accountable to their clients and funders. In this study, we report on findings from four years of data collected from the Community Research Scholars Initiative (CRSI) in Cleveland, Ohio. CRSI provided intensive research training over two years to two cohorts (N = 9) of frontline workers (“Scholars”) from CBOs focused on health disparities. Scholars completed one year of didactic training and one year of mentoring to complete a research project based at their organization. Findings from surveys, focus groups with Scholars, and supervisor interviews indicated changes in Scholars’ knowledge, confidence, and comfort with research concepts and skills. Scholars also demonstrated greater confidence in interacting with academic researchers, enhanced networks and career opportunities, and increased capacity for conducting community-based research. Scholar and organization engagement with community-based research was maintained after the program’s end through a community-based research network (CBRN). Findings suggest that the intensive training program for community members with a broad curriculum, mentoring, and strong support helped changed how CBOs think about data and research and demonstrate the impact of their work.

Keywords: Community-based participatory research; Community-academic partnerships; Health disparities; Research training (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:epplan:v:96:y:2023:i:c:s0149718922001434

DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2022.102189

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