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. 2022 Feb;49(1):11-16.
doi: 10.1177/10901981211054791. Epub 2021 Nov 3.

Crisis-Resilient and Antiracist Approaches to Community-Based Participatory Research During COVID-19 and Beyond

Sarah E Boland  1 , Jerreed D Ivanich  1 , Chelsea A Wesner  1   2 , Nicole R Tuitt  1 , Tracy Zacher  3 , Nancy L Asdigian  1 , Nancy Rumbaugh Whitesell  1
Affiliations

Crisis-Resilient and Antiracist Approaches to Community-Based Participatory Research During COVID-19 and Beyond

Sarah E Boland et al. Health Educ Behav. 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Social and health inequities among communities of color are deeply embedded in the United States and were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is a powerful approach to advance health equity. However, emergencies both as global as a pandemic or as local as a forest fire have the power to interrupt research programs and weaken community relationships. Drawing from Public Health Critical Race Praxis (PHCRP), as well as our research experience during the pandemic, this article proposes an expansion of prior CBPR principles with an emphasis on advocacy and storytelling, community investment, and flexibility. The article summarizes key principles of CBPR and PHCRP, contextualizes their relevance in COVID-19, and outlines a practical vision for crisis-resilient research through deeper engagement with antiracism scholarship. Structural barriers remain an issue, so policy changes to funding and research institutions are recommended, as well, to truly advance health equity.

Keywords: CBPR; antiracism; community-based participatory research; health equity; social justice.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: For all authors there are no conflicts of interest to report.

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