title: A Community Health Initiative: Evaluation and Early Lessons Learned.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has been shown to enhance trust and engagement among community academic partners. However, the value of CBPR among hyper-researched, inner-city communities has not been evaluated adequately. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a CBPR based engagement process in an inner-city, hyper-researched, underserved community.
  
  
  METHODS
  A qualitative process evaluation was conducted using focus groups, key informant in-depth interviews, and a brief survey to evaluate the attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, impact of, and satisfaction with the CBPR engagement process used to plan and conduct a community asset mapping project.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three focus groups, eight in-depth interviews, and survey responses from 31 individuals were obtained and analyzed. Findings include a sense of accomplishment and value with the engagement process, as well as a sense of tangible benefits of the process perceived by community members and academic research partners.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CBPR may represent an effective approach to enhancing trust and community-academic collaboration even among cynical, resistant, hyper-researched, underserved communities.
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gibbons
authors.forename: Samantha L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Illangasekare
authors.forename: Earnest
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kub
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research / Q000379:methods*; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D017144:Focus Groups; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D011634:Public Health; D019037:Urban Health Services; D014505:Urban Population