Community-Based Research Commons^™

Guidelines For Community Engaged Health Research, Carrie Leach, Hayley Thompson, Alex Sass, Patricia Wren, Rodlescia Sneed, Rhonda Dailey, Elizabeth Towner, Maha Albdour, Carla Caringi, Alyssa W. Beavers, Theresa A. Hastert, Vanessa Rorai, Peter A. Lichtenberg, Angulique Outlaw, Ijeoma Nnodim Opara

Institute of Gerontology

Executive Summary:

Wayne State University’s Guidelines for Community Engaged Health Research provide a practical framework for designing, conducting, and evaluating ethical, equitable, and impactful health research that engages community experts in projects that advance health equity in Detroit.

Purpose 

Developed for WSU faculty, staff, and research teams, the guidelines support the meaningful involvement of community experts across all phases of research. They respond to common challenges in community-engaged work, including limited experience with engagement approaches, the need for reflexive and equitable practices, and the time and coordination required for authentic collaboration.

The document defines Community-Engaged Research (CEnR) as collaborative work …

Building Trust Through Partnership: A Community Advisory Board Self-Evaluation Within A Blackfeet Nation Community-Based Participatory Research Collaboration, Lauren Dupuis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Community Advisory Boards (CABs) are frequently used within community-based participatory research (CBPR) to promote community engagement, shared decision-making, and cultural responsiveness. Although CABs are widely utilized in Indigenous research partnerships, relatively few studies have evaluated CAB function from the perspectives of Indigenous community members. Our study describes the development of a CAB established through a collaborative partnership between the University of Montana and the Blackfeet Nation and evaluates the quality and impact of the partnership from the perspectives of CAB members. We conducted a mixed-methods partnership self-evaluation with members of a CAB supporting an Indigenous healthcare research initiative. Three of …

Cultivating Community Resilience Through Youth Engagement, Elizabeth K. Anthony, Allison Mullady, Kendelle Brown, Michelle Blagg-Catone, Stephanie Castillo

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This article presents the impact of Arizona State University’s Design Studio for Community Solutions (DSCS) on youth engagement and community resilience. Through a mixed-methods approach, the study assesses the impact of DSCS programs on youth engagement and community resilience. The findings highlight best practices, underscoring the importance of consistent communication, trust-building, and community representation. Additionally, the research offers nuanced recommendations for future investigations, emphasizing the importance of continuous data collection and periodic assessments to drive ongoing improvement and address unmet community needs.

Gathering At The Table: Using Food To Heal On One’S Grief Journey, Jamie B. Daugherty, Jada Staat, Julie Rachford

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This research study explored the registered dietitian nutritionist’s (RDN) role and impact while supporting those on their grief journey. Data collection methods included a focus group, journaling, workshop evaluations, and photo elicitation. Qualitative data analysis highlighted three themes emerging from a six-week culinary nutrition education support workshop: providing intention, building community, and showcasing RDNs as encouraging companions, by contributing their skills of nutrition education and hands-on culinary applications, supporting individuals continuing to grieve.

Promoting Healthy Aging Through An Intergenerational Service-Learning Course, Tricia Pierce, Eric Hubbard, Shalini Persaud

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This case study examines combining service-learning (SL) with an intergenerational exercise program using undergraduate kinesiology students. The purpose was to explore how SL increases confidence, social responsibility, and leadership growth while addressing community needs. Students led biweekly exercise sessions for older adults over six weeks. Reflections demonstrated mutual benefits, including improved activity levels, reduced social isolation, and strengthened community connections.

Building Community One Structure At A Time: A Partnership Between Social Work And Landscape Architecture Students, Kenya M. Cistrunk, Elizabeth P. Tofte, Juriel A. Rogers

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Experiential learning is invaluable when promoting interdisciplinary approaches to teaching complex issues. This article reports on a five-week collaboration between undergraduate stu-dents in social work and landscape architecture courses, project impetus being a common-reading text. Students (n=54) constructed three-dimensional models of children’s playgrounds and prepared academic posters describing restorative interventions based on their service-learning experiences with community partners. Projects were displayed at university-sponsored workshops. Participation in common reading programs has promising implications for interdis-ciplinary collaboration.

Sharing A Vision With An International Partner Through Photographs, Leah S. Dunn, Diane Ceo-Difrancesco, Rakhi Srivastava

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

The purpose of this study was to establish a shared vision between the academic program and the international service-learning partner. Through the use of photovoice (Collier & Collier, 1986), we conducted a needs assessment to determine the partner’s priorities. Analysis of inter-view transcripts and photos yielded themes representing the partner’s needs and were the basis of the shared vision, adding clarity to the purpose of the experience.

Community Engagement: It Is All About Relationships!, Jennifer June Anderson

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

The ability to generate sustainable, mutually beneficial, interprofessional teams becomes a critical skill for today’s emerging professionals. Interprofessional teams can be developed among community-university partners to bridge the intellectual resources of academe through a model of scaffolding interrelated paradigms. This work will provide a conceptual framework for enhancing community engagement through interprofessional collaborative practices for continuing education programs.

Bridging The Divide: From Service To Public Work, Paul N. Markham

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

An important aspect of public higher education is the development of active citizens. Students should leave our institutions not only with an appreciation for the value of community service, but also having the vital knowledge, skills, and dispositions to be public problem solvers. This article is a reflection on one professor’s experience of teaching students for active citizenship by moving from a service mindset to an emphasis on public work. This account emphasizes public work as a critical pedagogy for a potential next phase of civic engagement in higher education, which focuses on the development of student civic agency in …

Cultivating Community-Engaged Faculty: The Institution’S Role In Individual Journeys, Eric Malm, Nicholas Rademacher, David Dunbar, Mary Harris, Erin Mclaughlin, Caroline Nielsen

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Campus-community partnerships are increasingly recognized as important parts of curricula and have become central to the missions of many colleges. Yet while the notion of service is becoming more prominent at the institutional level, the number of faculty who are actually teaching community-engaged courses is alarmingly low. This paper addresses the problem of inadequate faculty participation in campus-community partnerships through the case study analysis of the pathways that brought six faculty members from different backgrounds and disciplines into the world of the engaged classroom. From the stories of individual faculty members, a model of involvement emerged that illustrates a common …

The Floodnet Community Engagement Guide, Véronëque Ignace, Sofia Mariyamis, Kendra Krueger, Polly Pierone, Hayley Elszasz, Hannah Eisler Burnett

The Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay, SRIJB

"At the Intersection of Science, Policy, and Community: The FloodNet NYC Community Engagement Strategy” is a public-facing community engagement guide that documents the strategies, tools, and lessons developed through FloodNet NYC, a cross-sector partnership among researchers at NYU and CUNY and New York City agencies. Designed as a practical resource, this guide shares our approach to community engagement and dissemination so that researchers, practitioners, community organizations, and public agencies can adapt these methods to their own urban climate science projects and other community-centered efforts that address climate challenges.

Grounded in community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles, the guide presents community engagement …

Co-Design Of A Program For Medical Students’ Experiential Learning In Community-Engaged Research, Daenique H. A. Jengelley, Tess D. Weathers, Dustin O. Lynch, Morgan E. Ness, Luis Garcia, Gina E. Claxton, J. Dennis Fortenberry, Tamara S. Hannon

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Medical education may lack experiential training on authentic community engagement (CE). Employing a human-centered design approach with medical faculty and students to identify goals, opportunities, needs, and barriers to implementing CE research, we developed an Experiential Community Engagement Learning Series (EXCELS) pilot program. EXCELS supported both our community partners and medical students as a platform from which to learn from each other. EXCELS can be accomplished virtually, incorporated in medical training, and disseminated broadly.

Enhancing Undergraduate Education Through Social Innovation Projects: The Experience Of A Young University In Singapore, Intan Azura Mokhtar, Yong Lim Foo

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

In this paper, social innovation is used as a catch-all phrase for projects and initiatives by higher education institutions (HEIs) related to community engagement, community-based learning, and service-learning. This paper explores the concept and application of social innovation in higher education, followed by a case study of implementing social innovation projects in a young, applied learning university in Singapore, a discussion of lessons learned, and plans for the near future in enhancing and strengthening its implementation.

Stepping Up, Keeping On Track, And Pulling Your Own Weight: Collaborative Arts-Based Service-Learning Metaphors, Marcy Meyer

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

In this study, the author explores metaphors related to students’ experiences conducting collaborative arts-based ethnographic research in a U.S. nonprofit organization. A metaphor analysis of 25 students’ essays revealed they were most likely to frame their experiences with arts-based service learning as a journey or a sports contest. The author examines the extent to which students’ metaphors legitimize or delegitimize arts-based service learning, as well as the degree of novelty that characterizes these metaphors. She explores the implications of her findings for teaching and promoting arts-based service learning in the academy.

Community Members’ Perspectives On A Community-Engaged Process For Supporting Vibrant Greenspaces In Detroit, Alysha D. Matthews, Guilherme Hebling Costa, Karl Erickson, Karin A. Pfeiffer, Amber L. Pearson, Benjamin V. Dougherty

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Greenspaces provide several well-being (Dinnie et al., 2013) and psychosocial benefits (Addy et al., 2004). Community-engaged research affords community partners a voice in the project (Cushman et al., 2004). This study assessed Detroit community members’ perceived benefits of and suggestions for engaging with the community to support greenspaces. Through qualitative analysis, a three-step process for community-engaged planning was revealed. Findings highlight strategies that involve community members in this process to enhance community engagement and well-being.

"La Vida Es Un Carnaval": An Exploration Of Cuban Identity And Nostalgia Through Dance/Movement Therapy - A Community Engagement Project, Maria Fernanda Mendez Mendoza

Expressive Therapies Theses

“La Vida Es Un Carnaval” is a community engagement project and thesis that explores how identity and nostalgic resilience show up through dance/movement therapy with Cuban immigrants living in the United States, specifically Massachusetts. This project brought together six Cuban-born participants, ages 26 to 67, each with their own unique migration stories; from the Rafter Balsero Crisis of 1994, to the “Wet-Foot/Dry-Foot” policy, and family reunification. Through a mix of in-person and online sessions, participants explored their experiences using intermodal activities including dance/movement therapy techniques, conversation, journaling, artwork, and music. Themes of cultural pride, “Cubanía” – Cuban-ness, culture shock, and …

Impacting Community Well-Being Through Effective Engagement Using The Seed Method, Carlin Rafie, Emily B. Zimmerman, Angelina Hargrove, Theodora Biney Amissah, Samantha Lee

Journal of Extension

Cooperative Extension can make a significant impact on health in the United States through effective community engagement that focuses on the complex socio-ecological factors that impact health. The Stakeholder Engagement in Question Development Method (SEED Method) employs community based participatory research principles to engage communities in research, problem-solving, and action planning. Projects employing the SEED Method engage community members from diverse backgrounds, create community capacity, result in tangible outcomes, and foment inter-organizational trust and networking. A SEED Toolkit is available on the Extension Foundation Campus site and provides implementation instructions, tools and timelines, and potential applications within Extension.

Civic Education For Civic Leadership: Renewing Faith In Democracy, Ryan V. Weaver

eJournal of Public Affairs

Civic education and civic leadership are at the forefront of renewing faith in democracy on our campuses and communities. There is an urgent need for higher education to return to its historical foundation to fulfill the mission of democracy by educating students for democratic citizenship (Harkavy, 2006). Effectively integrating curricular and co-curricular civic engagement involves a balanced approach that is “both political and non-political” (Ehrlich, 2000, p. vi) to guide students to identify core values, develop civic knowledge, and build civic leadership skills (Finley, 2011; Hurtado, 2019). Civic leadership is an integral student learning outcome embedded within civic engagement praxis, …

We Built This Country For Free – Using A Phenomenological Approach For (Re) Imagining Mississippi Black Small-Scale Farmers, Destiny Denise Crockett

Theses and Dissertations

By the early 20th century, in 1920, Black farmers owned 14% of US farmland. Today, in the 21st century, Black farmers own less than 2% of US farmland. The demise of Black farmers and Black farmland in US Agriculture is a direct result of social, political, and racial weaponization against their foodways, culture, and livelihoods. The history concerning the plight of Black farmers goes beyond USDA's historical discrimination but enters a position where racism is embedded and perpetuated within the structure of US agriculture. In effect, Black small-scale farmers have reaped the downfall of this system, enduring racial biases and …

Integrating Sensor Development, Risk Assessment, And Community Engagement To Support Environmental Justice In The Rural Community Of El Tiple, Colombia, David Bahamon Pinzon

All Dissertations

In Colombia, ethnic communities have traditionally been responsible stewards of natural resources. They recognize the importance of these resources for their livelihood, as well as their ancestral and cultural heritage. El Tiple, a rural Afro-Colombian community, has been affected by the incursion of private corporations that promoted the expansion of sugarcane monocrops in their territory. Since the introduction of the monoculture industry, local freshwater sources have been depleted due to intensive water use for irrigation of the sugarcane crops. Additionally, the intensive usage of agrochemicals has been linked with loss of native flora, damages to family farms, and pollution of …

Citizenship Starts Here: A Community Engaged Approach To Civic Education, Grace Northern

Student Research – Stevenson Center

Abstract:

In 2015, Illinois legislators passed HB 4025 which required every public high school to include a civics course for students to complete before graduation. In 2019, this bill was expanded to include middle school students through Public Act 101-025. In this study, I investigate how the civic education standards as outlined by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and other school climate factors impacted middle school students’ civic engagement. I used data collected from the Center of Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) and the Illinois Civics Hub. The sample consisted of 497 middle school …

Suggestions For Early Career Community-Engaged Scholars, Sylvia Gale, Patricia Herrera, Maia K. Linask, Nicole Maurantonio, Derek Miller, Lynn Pelco

Other Publications

This document was written specifically, though not exclusively, for early career faculty members doing (or would like to be doing) faculty work in collaboration with off-campus community partners. The document may also be helpful to faculty members at other career stages who are beginning to undertake community-engaged work and administrators seeking to support their faculty. This is the information we wish we had at the start of our careers. We, the five co-authors of this paper, are tenured community-engaged faculty members and seasoned higher education administrators specializing in civic and community-engaged academic practices. Based on our literature review and collective …

Community Art For Rebuilding College Communities Following The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Literature Review, Amber Haney

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper is an examination of arts-based community engagement projects as a way to creatively engage, support, and endorse healing in college communities. This paper was written with consideration for potential long-term impacts on college students, individually and collectively, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout this paper, college student mental health trends in the United States are addressed and existing community engagement projects that center around community, healing, and resilience are examined. This paper argues that art therapy practices that are meant to advance societal healing can occur outside of the traditional, clinical individual or group therapy session …

The People’S Planning Initiative Of Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation, Cassondra Y. White

Community Engagement Student Work

This program evaluation looks at the Community Planning and You workshop of the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation in Boston, MA. The literature review explores the effects and responses to racialized housing policies, including the development of the community development field and its use of neighborhood organizing. The evaluation is grounded in the frameworks and theories of Arnstein’s (1969) Ladder of Citizen Participation, Putnam’s (1994) social capital, and Freire’s (2018) use of popular education to develop Critical Consciousness. There are three key evaluation questions: 1) if participants increase their knowledge of the Article 80 process; 2) if participation in community …

Envisioning Critical Social Entrepreneurship Education: Possibilities, Questions, And Guiding Commitments, Mark Congdon Jr., Liliana Herakova

Communication, Media & The Arts Faculty Publications

Higher education institutions continue to be increasingly interested in examining how social entrepreneurship and community engaged approaches to education can work together. In light of the recent growth and interest in such programs, scholars and educators have called for attention to specific considerations when developing SE and community-based education, which can be summed up in three areas - pedagogy, relationships, and impact. The present essay builds on such propositions, and calls for a critically-orientated approach to SE, grounded in community engagement, collaborative dialogue among diverse voices, and a commitment to transforming oppressive structures

Best Training Practices For Probation Officers And Staff Toward Building A More Sophisticated, Fair, And Effective System Of Juvenile Justice In San Diego County, Carissa Carrasquillo

Ethnic Studies Senior Capstone Papers

This report illustrates how probation leadership, officers, and staff in San Diego County can adopt best training practices to address and alleviate incidents in juvenile detention facilities and build a sophisticated, fair, and effective system of juvenile justice. The goal of implementing best training practices for probation officers and staff is to build a knowledgeable workforce to better serve youth and families and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system. This report analyzes how innovations in management and the introduction of new programs has proven effective through research- and evidence-based practices and direct community involvement. In particular, …

Community Initiatives Multiply University Partnerships, Christopher Lafontaine

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Christopher LaFontaine is a senior studying psychology and sociology at Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW). He has concentrated on community engagement and service learning as areas of focus for the past year. He plans to pursue a career in applied sociology and he has been involved with applied research among vulnerable populations. Christopher has worked with homeless veterans in Fort Wayne and has studied health conditions in a rural county that ranks low in health outcomes. In this article, he describes his experience with service-learning partnerships between community organizations and an institution of higher education.

An Analysis Of Poverty In Latin America And Three Community Development Strategies As A Solution, Grace Higgins

Selected Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to examine and analyze three community development models and the impact they have on poverty in Latin America. This thesis also develops an understanding of how inequality effects poverty in Latin America and explores three community development strategies that could be implemented in Latin America consisting of agropolitan development, modernization development, and development by market expansion. In addition to these three development models, this thesis analyzes critical factors that contribute to the sustainability of a community, and how each of the three models incorporate or do not incorporate those factors.

Identifying Perceived Risks To Environmental Pollutants And Needs For Risk Communication In A Rural Appalachian Community, Elizabeth H. Travis

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

The goal of this study is to determine issues rural Appalachian residents consider most important, their perceived environmental health risk, and how community engagement can potentially improve those issues. The University of Kentucky Superfund Research Center held the Appalachian Community Health and Well-being Forum at the Letcher County Cooperative Extension Office in Eastern Kentucky. A four-member panel consisted of two local health officials, a nutrition expert, and a federal scientist; answered questions from community members. The expert panel and audience members shared concerns, success stories, and highlighted efforts to promote health in the region. Community members completed a questionnaire collecting …

Community Engagement And Research Section, Umass Center For Clinical And Translational Science, University Of Massachusetts Center For Clinical And Translational Science

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The UMCCTS Community Engagement and Research Section works to improve health in Massachusetts by fostering community engaged research among UMass researchers and community partners. We do this through conferences, pilot funding opportunities, webinars, training, consultation, linking researchers with community partners, and an email discussion group (listserv).