Health Center Toolkit with Asian Americans

Posted by on December 8, 2008

New Community-Based Participatory Research Toolkit Released:  A Health Center Toolkit with Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

This toolkit is a joint collaboration between the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). It is intended as a handbook for CHCs and researchers interested in collaborative research activities.

Increasing calls for more comprehensive and participatory approaches to studying public health have led to the development of community-based models of research, in which communities actively and equitably engage in the research process.  Carefully executed, Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) benefits not only researchers, but also the community under study by empowering it with the knowledge and tools to implement changes.

With that said, there is now a growing interest in conducting CBPR at health centers focused on medically underserved populations, such as Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders.  From building ideas, to finding appropriate collaborators, to writing grant proposals, this extensive and evolving toolkit provides the resources health centers and researchers need to start a CBPR project and support the development, success, and sustainability of their projects together.

Community-Based Participatory Research:  A Health Center Toolkit with Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders contains an array of useful information for health centers and researchers, including:

•    Research readiness assessments
•    Steps to building CBPR partnerships and trust
•    How to develop a Memorandum of Understanding between partners
•    A protocol for submitting a research proposal collaboratively
•    A sample of a funded research proposal

The toolkit is available at: http://www.aapcho.org/site/aapcho/section.php?id=11295

AAPCHO and NACHC encourage you to send your feedback or additional resources for this toolkit, as they will continually update and develop its usefulness to health centers and researchers with your contributions. To reach them, email AAPCHO at: researchtoolkit@aapcho.org or NACHC: at research@nachc.com.