Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Dec;24(3):638.
Epub 2011 Dec 4.

Capacity building through focus group training in community-based participatory research

K L Amico  1 , M L Wieland, J A Weis, S M Sullivan, J A Nigon, I G Sia
Affiliations

Capacity building through focus group training in community-based participatory research

K L Amico et al. Educ Health (Abingdon). 2011 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Community-based participatory research (CBPR) emphasizes collaborative efforts among communities and academics where all members are equitable contributors. Capacity building through training in research methodology is a potentially important outcome for CBPR partnerships.

Objectives: To describe the logistics and lessons learned from building community research capacity for focus group moderation in the context of a CBPR partnership.

Methods: After orientation to CBPR principles, members of a US suburban community underwent twelve hours of interactive learning in focus group moderation by a national focus group expert. An additional eight-hour workshop promoted advanced proficiency and built on identified strengths and weaknesses. Ten focus groups were conducted at an adult education center addressing a health concern previously identified by the center's largely immigrant and refugee population. Program evaluation was achieved through multiple observations by community and academic-based observers.

Results: Twenty-seven community and academic members were recruited through established relationships for training in focus group moderation, note-taking, and report compilation. Focus group training led to increased trust among community and research partners while empowering individual community members and increasing research capacity for CBPR.

Conclusions: Community members were trained in focus group moderation and successfully applied these skills to a CBPR project addressing a health concern in the community. This approach of equipping community members with skills in a qualitative research method promoted capacity building within a socio-culturally diverse community, while strengthening community-academic partnership. In this setting, capacity building efforts may help to ensure the success and sustainability for continued health interventions through CBPR.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Timeline - Development of focus group infrastructure
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Horowitz CR, Robinson M, Seifer S. Community-based participatory research from the margin to the mainstream: are researchers prepared? Circulation. 2009;119(19):2633–2642. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jones L, Wells K. Strategies for academic and clinician engagement in community-participatory partnered research. JAMA. 2007;297(4):407–410. - PubMed
    1. Shalowitz MU, Isacco A, Barquin N, Clark-Kauffman E, Delger P, Nelson D, Quinn A, Wagenaar KA. Community-based participatory research: a review of the literature with strategies for community engagement. Journal of Development and Behavioral Pediatrics. 2009;30(4):350–361. - PubMed
    1. Israel BA, Schulz AJ, Parker EA, Becker AB. Review of community-based research: assessing partnership approaches to improve public health. Annual Review of Public Health. 1998;19:173–202. - PubMed
    1. Viswanathan M, Ammerman A, Eng E, Garlehner G, Lohr KN, Griffith D, Rhodes S, Samuel-Hodge C, Maty S, Lux L, Webb L, Sutton SF, Swinson T, Jackman A, Whitener L. Community-based participatory research: assessing the evidence. Evidence Report Technology Assessment (Summary) 2004;(99):1–8. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types