Community capacity building for community based participatory research through training: Implementation and evaluation of the community research fellows training program

Background: Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has emerged as an evidence-based approach to address health disparities.  The Community Research Fellows Training (CRFT) Program increases community capacity to engage in CBPR and promotes the role of underserved populations in the research enterprise.  In 2014, the CRFT program was implemented in 2 urban communities (St. Louis, MO and Jackson, MS) plagued by racial health disparities.

Methods: Community advisory boards and steering committees were developed for each region (St. Louis, Jackson).  CRFT consists of 15 didactic training sessions and experiential workshops based on a standard Masters of Public Health curriculum, taught by multidisciplinary faculty.  At each training session pre- and post-tests, and evaluations were administered. In addition, a baseline assessment, mid-training evaluation, and final assessment/evaluation were administered. Evaluations were also administered to CRFT faculty after their teaching session.

Results: 39 participants were selected for the St. Louis cohort and 27 for the Jackson cohort. High completion rates (97% St. Louis; 93% Jackson) and 100% completion rate on all homework assignments across cohorts demonstrates participant interest in program topics. Higher scores on post-test compared to pre-test and final assessment compared to baseline assessment suggest increased knowledge of participants.  Evaluations indicated high program satisfaction from participants and faculty.

Discussion: CRFT program data suggests that the curriculum enhances community knowledge of public health research and trains community members to become critical consumers of research. Successful implementation in two different locations suggests that the model can be adapted in other communities interested in addressing disparities using CBPR.