“You've Gotta Know the Community”: Minority Women Make Recommendations About Community-Focused Health Research

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Abstract
Objectives: To determine what ethnic and racial minority women recommend as the best approaches to participatory health research in their communities. To achieve this goal, this study focused on HIV prevention research. Methods: In 2003, Seven African American and seven Latina women (ages 33 to 52), all members of an HIV Prevention Collaborative Board, participated in individual interviews, lasting about 90 minutes each. Participants discussed their involvement in participatory research, and made recommendations as to how health researchers might better engage their communities. Data were coded independently by two coders following standard procedure for content analysis. Results: Women's voices and expertise can help guide health-related research. This study shows that: (1) participatory HIV prevention research should be founded on trust and commitment, leading to social support; (2) research partners ought to come from diverse backgrounds and be knowledgeable about the community and willing to ...