Institutional collaboration and competition in community-based education

Faculty beliefs, perceptions, and level of community involvement in their research: a survey at one urban academic institution

Health researchers are increasingly interested in how best to engage communities in their health-related research studies. To help determine how researchers have interacted with community members in their research, we conducted a survey of full-time faculty from the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions regarding researchers' beliefs and experiences with community-based research. Approximately 41% of respondents who conducted human subject studies had enrolled local residents in their research. Researchers whose studies were based in the surrounding community were significantly more likely to involve community members in all stages of their research (e.g., selection of the problem, project planning, data collection, interpretation and dissemination of results, or developing an intervention) than were faculty whose studies enrolled community members as research participants but whose studies were not set in the community. Over 90% of all faculty respondents agree that community involvement improves the relevance of their research, although almost 60% had not done so. Most faculty value community involvement, but they want more institutional support for such activities and they seek better skills to involve community. Few studies have surveyed researchers who enroll community members as research participants to document practices regarding community involvement in the research process. Given that the majority (73.6%) of faculty responded that they intend to include local residents in their upcoming studies, future research to evaluate interventions designed to facilitate community involvement, especially in the inner city, would help stakeholders identify best practices for involving and engaging communities in health research.

Health professional faculty perspectives on community-based research: implications for policy and practice

Community-based research (CBR) has become central to the understanding and elimination of health disparities within the USA and across the globe. The authors sought to determine the perspectives of health professional faculty on the factors affecting their involvement in CBR and the extent of community participation in that research. Faculty from 18 health professional schools in the USA identified by their deans as being leaders in CBR completed a written survey. Respondents reported that between 5-10% of faculty in their schools were involved in CBR. Public perception of the university, familiarity with community-based organization leaders and institutional leadership were cited as the most significant factors contributing to a school's involvement in CBR. Long-term community relationships, recognition in tenure and promotion policies and access to funding were cited as factors that support faculty in conducting CBR. The authors conclude that a more significant investment of public and private funds, the development of interdisciplinary institutional structures for community partnerships and a more inclusive definition of scholarship are needed to achieve a central role for CBR in efforts to understand and eliminate health disparities.

Partnering with public health: a model for baccalaureate nursing education

This article discusses the implementation of a one-year project developed to increase and improve the quality of public health nursing experiences for baccalaureate nursing students at one state-assisted university. The partnership model involved collaboration with public health departments, the academic nursing programs, and community agencies and leaders. The project led to the development of increased student skills related to interdisciplinary team work, program development, and cultural competency skills. A needs assessment questionnaire of the public health department partner staff supported a need to develop public health work force skills. The project provided opportunities for nursing faculty development. The project results support the need for service-academic partnerships to develop the public health nursing workforce.