Community Engagement in Prevention Research: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Prevention Research Centers’ National Community Committee

The Prevention Research Centers (PRC) Program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) supports prevention research using community-based participatory research (CBPR) and other community engagement approaches. This paper describes the development of the PRC’s National Community Committee (NCC), how the committee strengthened the national program’s commitment to CBPR, the impact the committee’s activities have had on national initiatives, and the lessons learned from supporting a national community approach in a prevention research program. Community representatives from each PRC’s community committee were invited to share and exchange resources, knowledge, and skills to guide the national program. As a result, the NCC was developed. By embracing diversity, building capacity among members, and offering co-learning opportunities, the NCC helped to strengthen the practice of CBPR. The committee’s activities helped to ensure community participation at the program’s national level and led to involvement in other prevention research initiatives external to the PRC program. Program and committee leaders maintained a shared vision and increased community members’ skills. The PRC NCC has taken the concept of community partnership to a national level and has changed the way some community members understand their role in research.