title: Addressing the Health of Formerly Imprisoned Persons in a Distressed Neighborhood Through a Community Collaborative Board.
abstract: This article provides a case study evaluating the structure and dynamic process of a Community Collaborative Board that had the goal of creating an evidence-based substance abuse/health intervention for previously incarcerated individuals. Meeting agendas, attendance, minutes, video recording of meetings, and in-depth interviews with 13 Community Collaborative Board members were used to conduct an independent process evaluation. Open coding identified quotes exemplifying specific themes and/or patterns across answers related to the desired domain. Several themes were identified regarding membership engagement, retention, and power distribution. Results showed member retention was due to strong personal commitment to the targeted problem. Analysis also revealed an unequal power distribution based on participants' background. Nevertheless, the development of an innovative, community-based health intervention manual was accomplished. Aspects of the process, such as incentives, subcommittees, and trainings, enhanced the Board's ability to integrate the community and scientific knowledge to accomplish its research agenda. Community-based participatory research was a useful framework in enhancing quality and efficiency in the development of an innovative, substance abuse/health intervention manual for distressed communities. Overall, this article sheds light on a process that illustrates the integration of community-based and scientific knowledge to address the health, economic, and societal marginalization of low-income, minority communities.
authors.affiliation: Cabrini College, Radnor, PA, USA vcsmith@cabrini.edu.
authors.forename: Vivian C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jemal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009515:New Jersey; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D011203:Poverty; D011329:Prisoners; D016730:Program Development; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: community intervention; community-based participatory research; health research; partnerships/coalitions; program planning and evaluation; qualitative evaluation