The purpose of this """"""""Enhancing Community Research Awareness"""""""" (ECRA) pilot project is to test an innovative community partnership model for enhancing public understanding and acceptance of health care research through a """"""""3-Step Community Engagement"""""""" intervention.
Our specific aims are to: 1) evaluate the feasibility of an innovative 3-Step """"""""Community Engagement"""""""" model of public health education focusing on the need for research on health disparities, the benefits of research participation to individuals, families and communities, and the rights and responsibilities of individual research participants, in a low-income, rural NC county with a large African American population; and 2) test the preliminary effectiveness of the model in enhancing awareness and acceptance of health care research, particularly among African- American, rural and low-income populations in NC. The mixed methods study will be implemented using Community Based Participatory Research strategy by a research team that includes academic nurse scientists from the UNC-Greensboro Center for the Health of Vulnerable Populations, members of the Healthy Ansonians Task Force local grass roots community organization and the Anson County Health Department. The intervention will include three successive steps to educate the community: 1) a series of articles in the local newspaper, 2) educational presentations to community leaders and gatekeepers, and 3) educational presentations to the community directly at worksites and social settings. Evaluation will be through several methods. Outcome data will be collected through survey (Research Attitudes and Knowledge Survey) of community members at baseline and after each step of the intervention (4 times, n=480) using face-to-face and phone contact. Focus groups will be conducted at baseline and upon completion of interventions (n=48). Formative feedback to and from the Community Partnership Board will occur after each step of the intervention. Analysis will include Chi-square, repeated measures ANOVA, regression, and content analyses. ? ? ?
