Implementing Community-Based Participatory Research with Two Ethnic Minority Communities in Kansas City, Missouri

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has been shown to improve aspects of health promotion initiatives. This case study examines the effects of a CBPR intervention on intermediate outcomes (changes in the community) related to preventing health disparities and chronic disease. We describe how the Kansas City-Chronic Disease Coalition used CBPR methods to help bring about community changes to reduce risk for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes among African Americans and Hispanics in Kansas City, Missouri. Using an empirical case study design, communities and scientific partners documented and analyzed the contribution of community changes (new or modified programs, policies or practices) facilitated by the coalition in two racial/ethnic communities: African American and Hispanic. Follow-up interviews suggest that the coalition did a better job of implementing a CBPR intervention in the African American community than in the Hispanic community. Challenges to implementing CBPR interventions in multiple and diverse ethnic communities are discussed.