Community-Based Participatory Research in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is an approach in which communities are treated as equal partners at all stages of a research project. This paper discusses the usefulness of CBPR for American Indian/Alaska Native communities and presents several case studies of CBPR in tribal communities. CBPR prioritizes the community in research design: the community is involved in developing research questions and methods; collecting data; analyzing data; and writing publications and disseminating data. CBPR is not simply a research method—it is a philosophy about how research should be conducted so that community needs are prioritized. There is a spectrum of approaches in CBPR, and there is no one way to conduct CBPR projects. Similarly, the definition of "success" will vary by CBPR project and will depend on the local context of the community involved as well as the priorities of the research team. The variety of approaches possible in CBPR projects is reflected in the case studies presented in this paper. The common link between diverse CBPR studies is their commitment to community needs and priorities. One outcome that follows from some CBPR projects is that communities and researchers work together to implement study results to improve community programs or services. There is a growing emphasis in research overall, not just among CBPR researchers, on the translation of research study findings into concrete strategies for improving practices, programs, and service provision.