Voices of Community Partners: Perspectives Gained from Conversations of Community-Based Participatory Research Experiences
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Participants
2.1.1. Water Contamination on a Native Nation
2.1.2. Environmental Contaminants and Farmworkers
2.1.3. Bacterial Infection and Diverse Populations
2.1.4. Young Adults Aging out of Foster Care
2.2. Data Collection
2.3. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Expectations for Engaging in Research
“Apprehension goes back to our history where we have been studied and studied and researched many times without our consent … many people have come into our communities to do all manner of research on our lives, on our health, lifestyles, on our culture, etc., and we don’t see them again, they go off back to wherever they came from and I imagine profit off whatever they did out here and we don’t hear back from them.”
“When we first started working on the research project, I didn’t know what to expect, I was going along for the ride knowing that I’m going to get something for these kids whatever that would be ... so when you came along and said oh let’s do this, I’m like I think I took a sigh of relief, yes finally more resources for these kids because they’re alone.”
3.2. Cultural Humility
“You [academic partner] were able to present all of that in our own language to our community in such a way that they understood it, that they could conceptualize even your scientific research. You put it into terms that grandma sheepherder, grandma farmworker could understand. So I think that once I saw that in you as a person ... I was reassured.”
“Historically there have been partnerships that don’t work well because people don’t set the right foundation ... in our case, what I appreciated most was that you came and talked to us directly about your work, but also about the respect that you and other researchers had for the people of our community ... your willingness to talk directly and engage the key stakeholders ... this created a strong collaboration.”
3.3. Respecting the Partnership
“As an organization, as a nonprofit, working with someone who’s in research. doing the research portion, it’s important for us to have an understanding of where you’re coming from and having a timeline in our head so we have dates so we’re not trying to push it too fast is always important to know and to keep in mind as well so that our successes can be bigger and not mediocre. The more we work together, the more we listen to each other and the more we understand both sides, the stronger we’ll be.”
“It’s about really being open with each other ... listening to each other and respecting each other as equal partners and valuing the information that each brings.”
3.4. Open Communication
“I think I’m always very honest and open, and I made it known to you guys. But you guys were always very patient, very nice, and very like calming, and ‘okay thank you for what you’re doing,’ or ‘we appreciate what you’re doing.’ You heard me.”
“You [academic partner] did a great job not only communicating with me, but communicating with our entire team—whether it was by emails, or you took the time to have a conference call with all team members so that everybody could hear the information at the same time. I think that that has significantly contributed to the quality of the relationship that we’ve developed.”
3.5. Genuine Commitment
“This wasn’t just a researcher reaching out trying to find a site, a place where he or she might conduct research, but there has always been a true commitment to the people of the community. In a community-based research project, that is one of the most fundamental and important elements of making a successful partnership.”
“I saw that there was sincerity with you. Yes very much, the compassion that you have innately for our people and for our land, for our water … we need sincerity, we need honesty, we need objectivity, and we need truth you know.”
3.6. Valuing Strengths and Recognizing Capacities
“Really aligning what your needs were, what our capacity was, and talking about processes that would make us both successful, was a very important part of the process of building an effective partnership.”
“I think it was just a great back and forth of ‘oh this needs to be done’, ‘oh I can do that’ ‘oh okay, so this needs to be done’ ‘okay what else do you need?’ and it’s just finding out who knew what to do what. You guys guided me very well because this is my first time doing a research project, ever. So going through those classes and learning consent, and yes it was dry reading, I totally get it, but it was very knowledgeable and it was very important for me to know your boundaries and the processes you guys had to go through on your side ... I think that was key.”
3.7. Collaborating to Yield Meaningful Results
“The actual great positive that came out of it was the study research results that you and your team generated which showed, demonstrated very clearly that the contamination levels of the river should not be a concern, they are very minimal and the emphasis that was made there and you articulating those results is working in a very grand way by the people and the farmers—that apprehension of using the water is being lifted and we’re beginning to farm again and the work that you and your team did greatly contributed to addressing that stigma that developed ... your work gave us the reassurance that we’re okay.”
“Because of the research we’ve already done, [our agency] and other organizations working with the same population are starting to open up a little bit more and are willing to collaborate more. We’re willing to sit around the table, find out what everybody is doing so we can work together for these kids ... I’m very thankful for the day you introduced research to us because it didn’t just help us, it helped the population that we served. It helps us as an agency with grants because you’re helping us get those deliverables, those measurables … the research part comes in and gives us tangibles that why wouldn’t we work with you?”
4. Discussion
Strengths and Limitations
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
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Share and Cite
Williamson, H.J.; Chief, C.; Jiménez, D.; Begay, A.; Milner, T.F.; Sullivan, S.; Torres, E.; Remiker, M.; Samarron Longorio, A.E.; Sabo, S.; et al. Voices of Community Partners: Perspectives Gained from Conversations of Community-Based Participatory Research Experiences. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 5245. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17145245
Williamson HJ, Chief C, Jiménez D, Begay A, Milner TF, Sullivan S, Torres E, Remiker M, Samarron Longorio AE, Sabo S, et al. Voices of Community Partners: Perspectives Gained from Conversations of Community-Based Participatory Research Experiences. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(14):5245. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17145245
Chicago/Turabian StyleWilliamson, Heather J., Carmenlita Chief, Dulce Jiménez, Andria Begay, Trudie F. Milner, Shevaun Sullivan, Emma Torres, Mark Remiker, Alexandra Elvira Samarron Longorio, Samantha Sabo, and et al. 2020. "Voices of Community Partners: Perspectives Gained from Conversations of Community-Based Participatory Research Experiences" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 14: 5245. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17145245