Evaluation of a Partnership Approach to Translating Research on Breast Cancer and the Environment

Background: The growing literature on community-based participatory research (CBPR) suggests that a participatory approach benefits science in important ways. However there have been few formal evaluations of a CBPR approach itself, and few standards developed to assist in such efforts.

Objectives: This evaluation used CBPR guidelines developed by Green and colleagues to evaluate the participatory approach of the Community Outreach and Translation Core (COTC) of the Bay Area Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Center (BABCERC) in translating scientific findings from two key projects to the public.

Method: To assess key stakeholders’ perceptions of alignment between the projects and the guidelines, four COTC members, four researchers, and four community members rated the projects on each of the 26 guidelines. These data were triangulated with transcripts from interviews with the same participants and a focus group with a subset of the participants.

Results: The participatory approach by the COTC resulted in many important benefits including improved relationships among diverse stakeholders, knowledge generation, increased sensitivity and propriety of the research, and increased community support of research. However, several atypical features of this collaboration—for example, the basic and etiological nature of the science being undertaken, and the multiple communities (lay and activist/advocate) involved—resulted in different levels and qualities of participation among stakeholders.

Conclusions: Further research should focus on the adaptation of participatory research principles for different kinds of community partners and on the development and refinement of standards and tools to assist in evaluating the process and outcome of participatory research.