Principle 3:

Build on community strengths and resources 

CBPR  supports or expands structures and processes that contribute to the ability of community members to be part of research. This may include individual skills and assets; networks of trusting relationships, cooperation and mutual commitment; and structures within the community, such as religious institutions, where community members come together and feel comfortable to engage. Community strengths and resources can provide an amplify the voices of disadvantaged communities in research.  

      Capacities (Competencies and conditions)

●        Commitment to become familiar with the context, the people, their culture and their priorities and needs

●        Ability to explore and embrace existing strengths and resources within a community

●        Appreciation of the value of different forms of knowledge; experiential, contextual, technical etc.

●        Ability to identify one’s own capacities and those of peers

●        Capacity to identify existing community structures (physical spaces) and institutions that could contribute towards change

●        Understanding of how to leverage formal and informal governance structures to make positive changes

●        Ability to assess and apply assets and strengths to collect and analyse data to contribute to change

  • Potential outcomes

    ●        Comprehensive and coordinated responses to health and wellbeing

    ●        Breadth and depth to mobilizations and more vertical links (e.g. with national organisations, civil society groups, etc.) providing access to a resources and potential policy impact

    ●        Optimal use of resources, shared responsibility and mutual support

    ●        Asset identification can lead to a richer and deeper understanding of community strengths and how these might be used or built upon

    ●        Enriched understandings of the strengths, needs, priorities, and health concerns of communities, organisations and health system –  potentially leading to refined and new research questions

    ●       Greater readiness for research implementation

  • Potential activities

    ●        Build on prior positive working relationships and assets – social network analysis can help identify networks and partnerships

    ●        Identify participants and partnerships based on pre-existing trusting relationships

    ●        Recruit community researchers for their leadership and their role as change agents , such as those who are credible and visible. This includes political and powerful people. Caution should be taken to ensure their involvement does not silence the voices of the most marginalized

    ●        Undertake asset-based community development (ABCD) assessments

    ●        Apply governance assessments like ‘Governance diaries’ to identify informal and formal networks that could support action

    ●        Employ a ‘flipped classroom’ strategy:  community researchers teach academic researchers how to bolster community engagement, research translation and dissemination see ‘We met a committee and made the assumption we met a community: Researchers’ language and practice in poor urban neighbourhoods’

  • Examples of benchmarks to assess progress

    ●        Number of workshops and meetings held in community settings incorporating local resources and assets

    ●        List of assets and strengths of research partners and broader communities

    ●        Capacity strengthening strategy that identifies and evolves personal, organisational, physical, institutional and governance assets and strengths across research partners

    ●        Documentation of applied community assets in research stages and action

    ●        Self-reported strengths and application (visual, written, audio)

    ●        Number and quality of participatory sessions delivered exploring the value of different types of knowledge and assets

    ●        Evidence that local resources have been leveraged to generate change

    ●        New links established with local assets and/or resources

    ●        Presence of a community organiser within the research partnership who is able to bring people in the community together, who has a history of community involvement, and who is respected and perceived as a leader in the community or marginalised group

  • Examples of source of evidence

    ●        Governance diaries

    ●        Structural maps (GIS, drawn) co-produced

    ●        Stakeholder mapping

    ●        Asset maps

    ●        Capacity strengthening strategies showing how different assets are shared and exchanged

    ●        Institutional maps

    ●        Stories and narratives of asset use in the past, present and future

    ●        Peer capacity strengthening sessions

    ●        Outputs identifying personal, organisational, physical, institutional and governance assets and strengths

    ●        Action plans showing asset use

    ●        Self-assessment of evolving skills and assets

    ●        Audio visual outputs such as blogs, vlogs and podcasts

*Please note that some statements are adaptations or direct quotes from the papers listed in the reference section