Lasting impact: A co-led community-academic model for a sustainable community-based participatory research training program

Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) is a critical component in building trust and trustworthiness, as well as mitigating power differentials - all of which are essential for building and sustaining community-academic partnerships. Since 2017, the University of Rochester Medical Center has co-created and co-facilitated a CBPR Training Program with community partners and academics to address these dynamics through didactic modules and group conversations. Innovations and pivots such as adding additional educational modules on grant writing and dissemination and implementation, plus redefining meeting times and locations have occurred in response to evaluation data and continuous quality improvement. Annual program evaluation, measured through surveys and focus groups, found program participants demonstrated a statistically significant increase in CBPR knowledge, CBPR skills, and ability to partner in a CBPR context before and after the program (<0.05), a result that was sustained when stratified by several program years. Qualitative results highlighted the importance of building and nurturing relationships built on trust, sharing resources, and ensuring students end the course ready to engage in CBPR. This project provides a model of teaching CBPR within a milieu that breaks down barriers to effective and meaningful CBPR.