Social Work Commons^™

Community-Based Participatory Research: The College As The Focal Community, Elizabeth Heckel, Crystal Moore

Crystal Moore

This article describes one small BSW program’s engagement in community- based participatory research (CBPR) in which the college community was the focus of the social change effort and social work undergraduates were the research partners. Over a 3-year period students engaged college community stakeholders, collected data, and presented findings on student alcohol use and abuse to promote discussion and inclusion of harm reduction strategies in the college response to this issue. The project resulted in an ongoing dialogue among the student researchers and administration regarding revisions to the campus alcohol policy. Written from the perspectives of a student researcher and …