141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

277439
Improving partnerships: A community collaboration to improve self-management of hypertension among African-American veterans

Monday, November 4, 2013

Julie E. Volkman, PhD , eHealth QUERI, US Department of Veterans Affairs, ENRM Veterans Hospital, Bedford, MA
Barbara G. Bokhour, PhD , Center for Health Quality, Outcomes and Economic Research, US Department of Veterans Affairs, ENRM Veterans Hospital, Bedford, MA
Gemmae M. Fix, PhD , Center for Health Quality, Outcomes and Economic Research, US Department of Veterans Affairs, ENRM Veterans Hospital, Bedford, MA
Anna M. Barker, BA , Center for Health Quality, Outcomes and Economic Research, US Department of Veterans Affairs, ENRM Veterans Hospital, Bedford, MA
Kathryn DeLaughter, MA , Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA
Natasha Cook, MS , US Department of Veterans Affairs, Boston, MA
Will Hatley , US Department of Veterans Affairs, ENRM Veterans Hospital, Bedford
Irving Cummings
Redgar Hennah
Thomas K. Houston, MD, MPH , Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA
Background: Deviating from traditional intervention research designs, our work targeting African-American Veterans with hypertension (HTN) utilized a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to create a DVD of success stories about managing HTN. For this intervention, it was imperative that community members became part of the process and researchers embraced their perspectives. We partnered with Veterans to select authentic stories about HTN self-management.

Method: To create an equitable partnership, we created a process that included rapport building, role sharing expectations, team meetings and feedback. Rapport was established with conversations about a shared commitment to the intervention goals. To illustrate partnership roles and equity of duties, expectations and intervention progress were frequently discussed. We used structured and unstructured templates for obtaining Veteran feedback on story message strength in the taped storytellers and to identify the most persuasive stories. Iterative feedback about DVD development was maintained through team meetings.

Conclusion: Through our collaborative process involving active listening and feedback, we created an equitable CBPR partnership. We established early that Veterans were not research participants, but equitable partners in decision-making, which contributed to active participation and fostered rapport. Stories the researchers viewed as important were not always the ones identified by the Veterans as engaging; we came to value and respect the Veteran viewpoint as equally valid as evidence-based research strategies. Key to building and maintaining trust was showing Veterans stages of DVD development that integrated their input. These steps contributed to a CBPR process that truly incorporated Veteran perspectives into intervention development.

Learning Areas:
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
Describe a process for involving community members in intervention development. Explain lessons learned from the process that can inform future collaborations between community members and researchers.

Keywords: African American, Community

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am Co-Investigator on federally funded grants focusing on the use of communication to improve health behaviors. Among my scientific interests is including community members into the research process.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.