Goals and Expected Outcomes
The founding principle of the California Breast Cancer
Research Program—to partner with the community in
the detection, treatment, and eradication of breast
cancer—is in some ways best exemplified by the CRC
Awards program. The CBCRP funds
community/researcher collaborations in order to close
the gap between what researchers study and what communities are
concerned about. This is especially important in California, where little
is
known about breast cancer’s impact on the state’s diverse communities.
Involving women most affected by breast cancer in research studies can
also lead to broader dissemination and use of the results.
The CBCRP CRC awards are based on a research
process called Community-based Participatory Research. Community-based
Participatory Research requires the collaboration of an identified
community with an academic or trained researcher to answer
questions of interest to the community. The purposes of the research
are to inform the community, take some action, or create some
change. It involves community-researcher collaboration at all
levels of
the research process.
While historically there has been little research evaluating the outcomes of Community-based Participatory Research, many have described its benefits. According to the National Institutes for Health (NIH), Community-based Participatory Research may improve the quality and impact of research by:
- More effectively focusing the research questions on health issues of greatest relevance to the communities at highest risk;
- Enhancing recruitment and retention efforts by increasing community buy-in and trust;
- Enhancing the reliability and validity of measurement instruments (particularly survey) through in-depth and honest feedback during pre-testing;
- Improving data collection through increased response rates and decreased social desirability response patterns;
- Increasing relevance of intervention approaches and thus likelihood for success;
- Targeting interventions to the identified needs of community members;
- Developing intervention strategies that incorporate community norms and values into scientifically valid approaches;
- Increasing accurate and culturally sensitive interpretation of findings;
- Facilitating more effective dissemination of research findings to impact public health and policy;
- Increasing the potential for translation of evidence-based research into sustainable community change that can be disseminated more broadly.
This evaluation considers the following four questions:
a. Did the CRC research increase knowledge about breast cancer in the community being researched, the scientific community, and the general public; and did the research impact policies, programs, and funding related to breast cancer?
b. Did using community-based participatory methods improve the quality of the research?
c. Did participating in CRC research positively impact the community organization research partner and members of the community?
d. Did participating in CRC research positively impact the academic research partner?
