Today’s public health grand rounds (held every other Friday, usually in room K-307 of the School of Medicine and Dentistry) focus on a new community approach to doing research. CBPR, or community-based participatory research, is, according to the WK Kellogg Foundation Community Health Scholars Program, 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, has the aim of combining knowledge with action and achieving social change to improve health outcomes and eliminate health disparities.” This concept coincides well with the goals of the growing CTSI.

Community-based participatory research aims to recognize the social, economic, cultural and policy contexts that frame a health decision. For example, what is causing childhood obesity in the city of Rochester? Is it that kids prefer to eat junk food and play video games, or is it because there are no grocery stores with fresh fruits and vegetables nearby and no safe areas for playing outdoors? Or is it some of each?

At UR, many researchers are working with community members to find out what makes them behave the way they do. They are also investigating ways to help community members implement healthy behaviors (and making sure that the community members actually want help). Today, Ann Dozier, RN, PhD is speaking about creating a breastfeeding-friendly community in Rochester. What makes mothers choose to or not to breastfeed and how can interventions be designed effectively so that more mothers will breastfeed their infants?

Researchers across the country are now employing CBPR to get ideas for interventions not only from theories and models, but also from those who will be affected by these interventions. If you ask me, this sounds like a pretty good idea.