31. Where Research Meets Relationship: Tips and strategies for building effective community based research and programs

Public Health Culture

Joyee Washington, MS, MPH, CHES is a Public Health and Education Research Consultant who works with individuals, groups, organizations, institutions, and communities to plan, implement, assess, evaluation and manage health education and community-based programs, as well as research. She is the founder of Joyee Washington Consulting, LLC and is completing her PhD in Educational Research at the University of Southern Mississippi with a focus on evaluation, statistics, and assessment specifically related to adolescent sexual health. She believes that power lies in community and the best way to access that power is by listening and uplifting the voices of the people through community engagement and action.

In This Episode We Cover:

• How the journey to a PhD is not a straight line but involves many twists and turns.
• Her focus on adolescent sexual health and teen pregnancy prevention.
• Her struggles and successes conducting Community-Based Participatory Research with a Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program.
• The importance of an engaged Community Advisory Board.
• Her biggest challenges working in Community-Based Research.
• Her top tips for planning for, implementing and evaluating Community-Based Research.
• The item(s) that you want to make sure you include in your research budget.
• The importance of planning for sustainability at the very beginning of the research planning process.
• The difference between community involvement and community engagement.
• Why recognizing a community’s strengths is crucial in the research process.
• The two key factors in helping communities solve problems.

Stand-Out Quotes:

• With regards to Community-Based Participatory Research: "It’s one thing to read about it in a book and another thing to actually do it.”
• “As researchers, we cannot go into their community and assume we know what they need. That will not work. That will create more problems as opposed to solutions.”
• “There is a lot that goes on in the background of CBPR. It is key to have a community advisory board.”
• Advice for Community-Based Researchers: “Don’t go in with any expectations. You have to be open. You have to be flexible.”
• “At the end of the day it isn’t about you, it is about the community.”
• “You have to plan for sustainability on the front end.”
• “When talking about community-based research and projects in general, equity is providing resources to those who need it the most.”
• “We have a responsibility to work with a community to uncover their strengths and use those strengths to achieve health equity.”
• “(Research) is more than numbers, data and experiments. We have to take time and ask what’s going on. Communities have to learn to empower themselves.”

Action Steps:

• Whenever working to help solve problems, make sure to meet people where they are and build trust and relationships by listening.
• Be flexible during the entire research process.
• Build a sustainability plan during the initial planning process.
• Remain open, because it is about the community, not your research expectations.
• Find the strengths!

Reach Out:

Visit Joyee’s website at: https://joyeewashington.com