title: Capacity building through focus group training in community-based participatory research.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Community-based participatory research (CBPR) emphasizes collaborative efforts among communities and academics where all members are equitable contributors. Capacity building through training in research methodology is a potentially important outcome for CBPR partnerships.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the logistics and lessons learned from building community research capacity for focus group moderation in the context of a CBPR partnership.
  
  
  METHODS
  After orientation to CBPR principles, members of a US suburban community underwent twelve hours of interactive learning in focus group moderation by a national focus group expert. An additional eight-hour workshop promoted advanced proficiency and built on identified strengths and weaknesses. Ten focus groups were conducted at an adult education center addressing a health concern previously identified by the center's largely immigrant and refugee population. Program evaluation was achieved through multiple observations by community and academic-based observers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-seven community and academic members were recruited through established relationships for training in focus group moderation, note-taking, and report compilation. Focus group training led to increased trust among community and research partners while empowering individual community members and increasing research capacity for CBPR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Community members were trained in focus group moderation and successfully applied these skills to a CBPR project addressing a health concern in the community. This approach of equipping community members with skills in a qualitative research method promoted capacity building within a socio-culturally diverse community, while strengthening community-academic partnership. In this setting, capacity building efforts may help to ensure the success and sustainability for continued health interventions through CBPR.
authors.affiliation: Brigham and Women's Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. kendra.amico@gmail.com
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Amico
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Wieland
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Weis
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Nigon
authors.forename: I G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Sia
mesh_terms: D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D017144:Focus Groups / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008910:Minnesota; D015397:Program Evaluation; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*