SOC WL 591A: Community-Based Participatory Research (3)
(Note: This course may serve as a substitute for Soc W 506 for MSW students, but students will need to email Lin at linm@uw.edu to get the course pulled into their degree audit manually)
Instructor: Bonnie Duran, Dr.PH, bonduran@uw.edu
Instructor Myra Parker, PhD, JD, myrap@uw.edu
Units: 3 credits, graded
Location: UW Health Services I-Wing, I-142
Day & Time: Wednesdays 8:30am – 11:20am
Office Hours: By appointment, SSW Room 211-D & IWRI Research Commons
Participants: UW SSW & SPH Graduate Students, Fellows
Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and other forms of community-engaged research (CEnR), such as Participatory Action Research, Collaborative Inquiry, and Practice-Based Research Networks, have received growing attention in fields like social work, public health, community development, urban planning, education, nursing, sociology, anthropology, and others over the past several decades. Increasingly, academic-community partnerships are at the forefront of improving health for vulnerable populations.
As defined by the Kellogg Foundation, CBPR is a “collaborative approach to research that equitably involves all partners in the research process and recognizes the unique strengths that each brings. CBPR begins with a research topic of importance to the community with the aim of combining knowledge and action for social change to improve community health and eliminate health disparities.” It is an overall orientation to research, which fundamentally changes the relationship between researchers and researched.
With roots in popular education in the “Global South,” including nations of Latin America, Asia and Africa, and in other traditions of action and participatory action research, it has been applied in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere in a range of disciplines and settings.
Purpose and Structure of the Course
The goal of this course is to provide participants with an understanding of theories, principles and strategies of CEnR and CBPR, an appreciation of advantages and limitations of these approaches, and skills necessary for participating effectively in CBPR projects.
The class will meet once a week for three hours. The course’s primary format will reflect participatory research’s philosophical commitment to co-teaching and co-learning as opposed to more didactic pedagogical approaches, and critical small and large group discussion will be emphasized. While case studies of CBPR projects in health will be presented, other case studies are welcome to complement and illustrate principles, issues and challenges raised. Empowerment methodologies and participatory exercises will be included.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course, students will be able to identify, list, describe and/or gain:
ü The key scientific and ethical rationale, findings and guidelines of community-engaged research;
ü Significant theoretical and historical perspectives that have shaped the development and evolution of CBPR and other participatory traditions and describe the contributions of each;
ü The major principles of CBPR and illustrate their relevance with case studies;
ü Ethics, politics, race, gender and class dimensions of CBPR;
ü Gain skills in self-reflection through mindfulness and other techniques;
ü Similarities and differences between CBPR and other forms of CEnR;
ü Steps in the development of a CBPR project;
ü Advantages and limitations of CBPR as a method for approaching study and action to address public health, social work, social problems and health disparities;
ü Issues and approaches to rigor, validity, and measurement of CBPR in health equity research;
ü Practical experience in participatory methods and reflection on experiences in order to promote self- and community learning in the CBPR process.
ü Potential co-optation of Community Engagement through unethical partnering
COURSE READINGS
Course Text: Wallerstein, N., Duran, Bonnie, Oetzel, John G., & Minkler, Meredith. (2018). Community-based participatory research for health: Advancing social and health equity (Third ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Brand.
Other articles will also be included on the Canvas webpage.
COURSE STRUCTURE
The course will meet for approximately three hours once a week. In keeping with the philosophical underpinning of popular education and CPBR, class participation is highly valued. Learning will be through discussion of readings, guest lecturers, and critical analysis of experiences and CBPR cases throughout the United States and internationally, and through your own social justice/public health/participatory case study experiences. Students will be expected to read the articles before the class and come prepared to discuss how the theory relates to CBPR practice and to students’ own experiences in their respective fields.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING
The main learning method in this course is through discussions of CBPR theory, case studies and original research articles (examining methodology, theory, and challenges); and developing analyses and strategies for practicing community engagement.
iii) Lessons learned about CBPR