Research partnership with underserved African-American communities to improve the health of older persons with disability: a pilot qualitative study

Using Sociograms to Enhance Power and Voice in Focus Groups

OBJECTIVE

To discuss the use of sociograms in our focus groups with homeless sheltered mothers and to assess facilitator influence and the distribution of power influence.

DESIGN AND SAMPLE

An exploratory, descriptive qualitative design that utilizes both focus groups and sociograms. Two focus groups were conducted in December 2009 (N = 7) and January 2010 (N = 4). Data analysis included a content analysis and a process analysis using sociograms to graphically represent group participant dynamics.

RESULTS

Use of the sociogram provided a means to assess the influence of the facilitator as well as quantify the degree to which group participants' voices are included.

CONCLUSION

Using sociograms provides a viable mechanism to complement content analysis and increase the methodological rigor of focus groups in health care research.

Moving toward synergy: lessons learned in developing and sustaining community-academic partnerships

BACKGROUND

Community-academic partnerships are an increasingly popular approach to addressing community health problems and engaging vulnerable populations in research. Despite these altruistic foci, however, partnerships often struggle with fundamental issues that thwart sustainability, effectiveness, and efficiency.

OBJECTIVES

We adapted a synergy-promoting model to guide the development and evaluation of a community-academic partnership and share lessons learned along the way.

METHODS

We analyzed the partnership process over time to determine the interaction of trust, collaboration, and engagement in creating partnership synergy and promoting sustainability.

LESSONS LEARNED

Few community-academic partnerships use a conscious and systematic approach to guide and evaluate their progress. We argue that this is an important first step in creating a partnership, sustaining a milieu of open dialogue, and developing strategies that promote trust and equalize power dynamics. Still, as we learned, the best laid plans can go awry, challenging partnership synergy throughout its lifespan.

Empirical data about women's attitudes toward a biobank focused on pregnancy outcomes

The Chicago Lying-in Pregnancy Program (CLIPP) is a biobank designed to collect biological samples from pregnant women to study issues related to pregnancy. Despite the large number of biobanking initiatives in obstetric populations around the world, there is no published research that examines what pregnant women understand about enrollment into such programs and what their attitudes and beliefs are toward the research and its potential outcomes. Postpartum women 18 years or older who delivered at the University of Chicago Hospitals and had live infants on the General Care Nursery service were approached about participating in a survey about the CLIPP biobank and about a hypothetical pediatric biobank. Ninety-three women who had been recruited to participate in CLIPP agreed to participate in this research. Sixty-three women (68%) had previously agreed to participate in CLIPP; and 30 (32%) had refused. Both participants and non-participants understood that CLIPP had the main goal of advancing science, although almost one-half of the respondents thought that participation in CLIPP would benefit the individual participants. Eighty-five (92%) correctly believed that the research team would keep the medical information private. There was widespread optimism that the research would yield significant results. Importantly, there was no difference in these beliefs between those who enrolled and those who did not enroll in CLIPP. While education and socioeconomic status correlated with greater understanding about the methods and goals of the program, greater understanding did not correlate with willingness to participate. Our survey found widespread willingness to enroll in a pregnancy-focused biobank and optimism that the results will yield significant benefits.

Empirical data about women's attitudes towards a hypothetical pediatric biobank

Researchers at the University of Chicago sought institutional review board (IRB) approval to establish both an obstetrical biobank (Chicago Lying-in Pregnancy Program [CLIPP]) and a pediatric biobank (KidsGene). Before KidsGene was approved, the IRB requested additional ethical review. The research ethics consultation service noted that no empirical data existed about parental attitudes towards this type of project. Postpartum women 18 years or older who delivered at the University of Chicago Hospitals and had live infants on the General Care Nursery service were approached about participating in a survey about the CLIPP biobank and about a hypothetical pediatric biobank. Two hundred thirty-nine women were consented and completed most or all of the survey. Eighty-two percent self-classified as Black and seven percent were Caucasians. Caucasians were the most willing to enroll their children hypothetically into a pediatric biobank with non-Black minorities being the most uncertain about what they would do. Almost half of the women thought that the research had the main goal of advancing science although a similar number expressed the belief that the research had the main goal of helping their individual child. Women supported use of the samples for a wide array of pediatric conditions. Comprehension of research practices, trust in medical researchers, and a belief that the research findings would be used fairly correlated with enrollment. Our survey found that most women support biobank development for research purposes. Most respondents expressed optimism that the results will yield significant benefits and that the benefits will be distributed fairly.