Understanding community-based participatory research through a social movement framework: a case study of the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project

Abstract

BackgroundA longstanding challenge of community-based participatory research (CBPR) has been to anchor evaluation and practice in a relevant theoretical framework of community change, which articulates specific and concrete evaluative benchmarks. Social movement theories provide a broad range of theoretical tools to understand and facilitate social change processes, such as those involved in CBPR. Social movement theories have the potential to provide a coherent representation of how mobilization and collective action is gradually developed and leads to systemic change in the context of CBPR. The current study builds on a social movement perspective to assess the processes and intermediate outcomes of a longstanding health promotion CBPR project with an Indigenous community, the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project (KDSPP).MethodsThis research uses a case study design layered on a movement-building evaluation framework, which allows progress to be tracked over time. Data collection strategies included document (scientific and organizational) review (n = 51) and talking circles with four important community stakeholder groups (n = 24).ResultsFindings provide an innovative and chronological perspective of the evolution of KSDPP as seen through a social movement lens, and identify intermediate outcomes associated with different dimensions of movement building achieved by the project over time (mobilization, leadership, vision and frames, alliance and partnerships, as well as advocacy and action strategies). It also points to areas of improvement for KSDPP in building its potential for action.ConclusionWhile this study’s results are directly relevant and applicable to the local context of KSDPP, they also highlight useful lessons and conclusions for the planning and evaluation of other long-standing and sustainable CBPR initiatives. The conceptual framework provides meaningful benchmarks to track evidence of progress in the context of CBPR. Findings from the study offer new ways of thinking about the evaluation of CBPR projects and their progress by drawing on frameworks that guide other forms of collective action.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-018-5412-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

With a Spirit that Understands: Reflections on a Long‐term Community Science Initiative to End Suicide in Alaska

“…Most relevant, the group has carefully and extensively described the developmental progression of their 30‐year research relationship through the lens of a social movement framework (Tremblay, Martin, Macaulay, & Pluye, ). They define four distinct stages—emergence, coalescence, momentum, and maintenance/integration (Tremblay, Martin, McComber, McGregor, & Macaulay, ). Their work has been influential in our own thinking.…”

“…While there is discussion in the literature reviewed here of important elements in CBPR and its developmental process in mobilizing communities, there has been significantly less examination of ways that the core academic–community relationships with indigenous communities have been managed, maintained, and changed over the long‐term, or in turn, how relational change impacts the research and intervention outcomes. Further, existing efforts exploring relationships have largely explored social action as outcomes (Tremblay et al., ). While this is an important and central goal of CBPR, it leaves out other critical dimensions important in the current cultural surround of research in contemporary indigenous settings, including prominently, transformation of knowledge to include indigenous knowledge systems, as well as how they potentially reflect concurrent transformations of power relations in science.…”

“…We have published other facets of our research to date, considering design, outcomes, methods, and process (Allen & Mohatt, ; Rasmus, ; Rasmus et al., ). This paper will examine relational perspectives to extend existing developmental theory on CBPR in indigenous settings (Tremblay et al., , ) by describing three sequences in relational development: (a) emergence, (b) coalescence, and (c) transformation (Table ). We have chosen vocabulary carefully in use of the term sequence.…”

The Role of Religious Behavior in Health Self-Management: A Community-Based Participatory Research Study

“…CBPR is an approach to research in public health that involves equitable partnerships and active participation in the decision-making process among community players and researchers to facilitate community health improvement and increase knowledge (Holkup et al 2004;Jagosh et al 2015). The CBPR approach has its strengths in sustaining supportive and power-sharing relationships among marginalized groups (Tremblay et al 2018;Cargo and Mercer 2008; O'Brien and Whitaker 2011). Moreover, CBPR has been identified as a successful approach to recruiting and retaining hard to Before addressing results, a review of recent literature on factors associated with CBPR and health behaviors, including geographical factors, religious self-regulation, intrinsic religiosity, religious coping, religious self-management behaviors, and healthy eating behaviors, is given.…”

“…CBPR is an approach to research in public health that involves equitable partnerships and active participation in the decision-making process among community players and researchers to facilitate community health improvement and increase knowledge (Holkup et al 2004;Jagosh et al 2015). The CBPR approach has its strengths in sustaining supportive and power-sharing relationships among marginalized groups (Tremblay et al 2018;Cargo and Mercer 2008;O'Brien and Whitaker 2011).…”