Facilitating Community Participants’ Research Engagement: Community Members’ Perceptions of Community-based Research

OBJECTIVES To describe the perspectives of community participants about engaging in community-based participatory research, and then to use the information to develop a model to depict the community participants' perceptions of interfacing with academic researchers. METHOD A diverse group of Native Hawaiian community-dwelling participants engaged in open-ended and semi-structured focus group interviews, addressing community members' perceptions of community-based participatory research. RESULTS Three key areas were identified: (1) reciprocal trustable is needed; (2) perceptions about the purpose, research intent and expectations; (3) expectations of roles and responsibilities of the researcher(s). A model showing the reciprocity between the academic partner and the community partner is needed to establish the full CBPR process is proposed. CONCLUSION The three themes implied the community participants' expectations of reciprocal relationships. The dimensions influencing community members' perceptions of community-based research need to be taken into account when academic researchers interface with community participants. Successful community-based participatory research approaches for addressing the challenges of translating research findings into community actions is enhanced when the expectations of community members are taken into account.