Assessment of a Novel Environmental Justice Community-University Partnership

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议的研究旨在解决关于社区-大学伙伴关系在增强环境正义（EJ）社区等脆弱社区的权能、利用科学解决当地公共卫生问题方面的有效性的科学知识方面的重大空白。不幸的是，很少有联邦政府资助的研究项目提供关于研究方法和合作伙伴的信息，以建立EJ群体对科学研究的信任和信心，有效地满足他们的需求。此外，这些项目中很少有可以作为模型来帮助实现NIH公共信托倡议的长期目标。我们认为，西区振兴协会（WERA）的工作是NIH公共信托倡议的一个很好的模式。WERA是一个以社区为基础的环境保护组织，总部设在北卡罗来纳州的梅贝恩，它建立了一个社区-大学伙伴关系，以解决当地黑人社区缺乏基本设施、环境不公正和公共卫生问题。WERA开发了社区拥有和管理研究（COMR）框架，作为其社区大学伙伴关系的基础。为了评估WERA社区大学伙伴关系在通过科学研究向公众（特别是弱势EJ群体）提供信息和参与方面的价值，我们将实现以下目标：1)评估COMR和社区大学伙伴关系的研究和培训核心在提高科学素养和社区对研究过程的信任方面的影响；2)评估伙伴关系的职业和管道发展核心对提高当地青年和学生的科学素养以及他们对公共卫生研究的兴趣的影响；3)评估WERA社区大学伙伴关系的协作问题解决模式核心在帮助提高WERA与合作伙伴之间的科学素养、沟通、协作、信任和公平方面的影响。由于研究人员之间的长期关系，这项拟议的研究是新颖的，因为它独特地定位于探索WERA的社区大学合作伙伴关系。该项目还具有重要意义，因为它将证明，由于WERA的社区-大学伙伴关系和COMR框架的使用，当地EJ社区的科学素养、对研究过程的信心、对科学研究的参与和合作确实有所增加。我们相信，评估结果将对NIH公共信托倡议和其他对替代方法和模型感兴趣的实体的努力做出积极贡献，以使弱势群体参与应用卫生研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed research seeks to address critical gaps in the scientific knowledge on the effectiveness of community-university partnerships in empowering vulnerable communities such as environmental justice (EJ) communities to use science to address local public health issues. Unfortunately, there are few examples of federally funded research programs that provide information on research approaches and partnerships appropriate to build trust and confidence of EJ populations in scientific research that effectively addresses their needs. Additionally, few of these programs can act as models to help achieve the long-term objectives of the NIH Public Trust Initiative. We submit that the work of the West End Revitalization Association (WERA) is a good model for the NIH Public Trust Initiative. WERA, a community-based environmental protection organization based in Mebane, North Carolina, founded a community-university partnership to address the lack of basic amenities, environmental injustice, and public health issues in local black communities. WERA developed the community-owned and managed research (COMR) framework as the foundation for its community-university partnership. To assess the value of WERA's community-university partnership in informing and engaging the public, particularly vulnerable EJ populations through scientific research, we will meet the following aims: 1) evaluate the impact of COMR and research and training core of the community-university partnership in improving scientific literacy and community's trust in the research process; 2) assess the impact of the career and pipeline development core of the partnership in improving scientific literacy of local youth and students and their interest in public health research; and 3) evaluate the impact of the collaborative problem solving model core of WERA's community-university partnership in helping to increase scientific literacy, communication, collaboration, trust, and equity between WERA and its partners. The proposed study is novel because it is uniquely positioned to explore WERA's community-university partnership because of the long-term relationship between the investigators. The project is also significant because it will document that scientific literacy, confidence in research process, participation in scientific research, and collaboration did increase in local EJ communities due to WERA's community-university partnership and use of the COMR framework. We believe that the evaluation results will make a positive contribution to the efforts of the NIH Public Trust Initiative and other entities interested in alternative approaches and models to engage vulnerable communities in applied health research.