Con Confianza: Using Community-Based Participatory Research Principles to Inform Community-Academic Partnership Practices and Build Trust in Hispanic Communities

Hispanic communities are at disproportionate risk for chronic diseases and researchers have cited the need for further community and culturally informed studies to improve research outcomes to either make treatments and interventions more generalizable or modify them to the needs of Hispanic communities. However, many of the same linguistic and cultural barriers to health care access and utilization also impact the ability for Hispanic groups to participate in research studies. Community Academic Partnerships (CAPs) are positioned to conduct culturally and linguistically competent research in Hispanic communities. For research in Hispanic communities to be effective, CAPs must prioritize practices that build and maintain trust. This can be done by applying the most common and sustainable practices in successful CAPs informed by Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) principles. These include establishing a role and definition of the community; including the community in the design process; ensuring ongoing knowledge transfer among academic leaders and community members of the community and the subject matter researched; and performing ongoing assessment of community engagement across the continuum of community engagement. These practices communicate commitment to Hispanic communities in CAPs and also provide academic researchers accountability measures ensure the partnership is reflective of the community needs. These practices also contribute to the building and maintenance of trust and a sustained partnership