Community Research Grows in California

Walter Price, Dr.P.H., CBCRP Community Initiatives Manager
Natalie Collins, M.S.W., CBCRP Outreach and Technical Assistance Coordinator

Community participation in breast cancer research through the CBCRP’s Community Research Collaboration awards (CRCs) reached a new high this past November when we received the largest number—35—of CRC concept papers (a prerequisite for a subsequent application) since the award’s inception in 1997. This is in stark contrast to 2002, when we received only nine concept papers.

We believe the rising interest is the result of two factors: the visible success of previous CRC recipients—the growth and viability experienced by the community agencies—and an active program of outreach and technical assistance.

The early funding cycles revealed a number of issues: our methods of soliciting applications weren’t encouraging to community-based organizations; the fledgling collaborations did not compete well against more seasoned investigators; rejection was more discouraging to community groups than to academics who understood the business of getting grants; and true participatory research required more work than either partner realized.

We responded to these issues by adding a consultant with extensive community experience to our staff, developing an outreach and technical assistance program, changing our application materials, and modifying our scoring system and reviewer guidelines to better suit the participatory research model.

Since June 2001, we have conducted yearly summer outreach workshops throughout the state, informing community agencies and scientists about the CBCRP’s interest in community-based research, explaining our application and review process, and reviewing the do’s and don’ts of writing applications for the CBCRP. In 2003 we added a technical assistance program (supported by the California Endowment), focusing on one-on-one support to applicants in developing research ideas, match-making between scientists and communities, providing the basic tools for framing research ideas, and providing hands-on assistance with drafts of proposed research.

In August 2005, after the summer workshops, we expanded our outreach by conducting our first statewide teleconference. During the year we also conducted fifteen teleconferences with individual teams interested in applying for a CRC award.

When people are empowered, they are able to think more freely, and our community-based researchers are no exception. Once they learned just how much they can do, they began pursuing a breathtaking array of research questions, from health issues like diabetes, nutrition, maintaining fertility after breast cancer treatment to environmental issues like suspected carcinogens in nail care products. By learning about and becoming accustomed to the research funding application process, community organizations are not only submitting more concept papers, they are submitting better quality research ideas, exploring a wider range of research topics involving more diverse populations and greater geographic representation throughout the state.

 

When people are empowered, they are able to think more freely. Once they learned just how much they could do, they began pursuing a breathtaking array of research questions.