Identifying and recruiting MexicanAmerican partners and sustaining community partnerships

In this article, how community partners were identified and recruited and how community partnerships have been sus-tained during a current program of study designed to elimi-nate health and use disparities are described. Hispanic elders use in-home community services less often than do Anglo elders. The critical social paradigm, community development theories, and participatory research methods have guided a partnership with Mexican American elders and their care-givers during five research studies. Although the process of partnering with communities evolves within specific contexts and cannot be precisely predicted, strategies can be trans-ferred to research and transcultural nursing practice to improve preventive care and sustainability of healthful changes in vulnerable populations