University partnerships with community-based organizations offer effective ways to address social problems

With the nation’s economic slowdown limiting resources, and governments and foundations reducing spending, university-community partnerships offer an effective way to address social problems such as violence, abuse, gang warfare, teen pregnancy and homelessness.

Social scientists and community activists will discuss ways to facilitate such partnerships at the 2nd Chicago Conference on Community Research: Participatory Research on June 14-15 at Loyola University Chicago’s Water Tower Campus, 820 N. Michigan Avenue. The conference is sponsored by DePaul University, Loyola University Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago, in conjunction with the Science Directorate of the American Psychological Association and the Woods Foundation.

More than 100 researchers, scholars and community agency leaders nationwide will discuss best practices regarding community-based research. They will also address issues such as seeking evidence that supports the positive effects of citizen participation in implementing community-based research and examining the unique challenges or obstacles that citizen participation presents during the research process.

J. Robert Newbrough, Ph.D., of Vanderbilt University’s Institute on Public Policy Studies, and Maritza Montero, Ph.D., of the Universidad Central de Venezuela, will present the keynote address, “New Horizons for Knowledge: The Influence of Citizen Participation,” at 9 a.m. Friday, June 14.

To encourage audience interaction, presentations will be led by three-member panels, comprising two presenters and a discussion leader. Research papers have been posted on the conference website for weeks, allowing participants to read them and post responses on an online bulletin board.

Topics and speakers include:

Primary Prevention

Theory Presenter - Roger Weissberg, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)

Action Presenter - Elena Quintana, UIC Discussant - Joe Durlak, Loyola University Chicago 10:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Friday, June 14

Empowerment Evaluation

Theory Presenter - Abe Wandersman, University of South Carolina-Columbia Action Presenter - Robin Miller, UIC Discussant - LaVome Robinson, DePaul University 10:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Friday, June 14

Self-Help

Theory Presenters - Keith Humphreys and Colleen Loomis, Stanford University Action Presenter - Daryl Holtz Isenberg, Illinois Self-Help Coalition Discussant - Ken Maton 1:45-3:30 p.m. Friday, June 14

Culturally Anchored Research

Theory Presenters - Chris Keys, UIC, Susan McMahon, DePaul Action Presenter - Bernadette Sanchez, DePaul Discussant - Jaleel Abdul-Adil, Institute for Juvenile Research, UIC 3:45-5:30 p.m. Friday, June 15

Epidemiology

Theory Presenter – Dr. Richard Herrell, UIC Action Presenter - Dr. Susan Torres-Harding, DePaul Discussant – Dr. Stevan Hobfoll, Kent State University 3:45-5:30 p.m. Friday, June 14

Feminist Perspectives

Theory Presenter - Jean Hill, New Mexico Highlands University Action Presenter - Doreen Salina, Howard Brown Health Center/Northwestern University Medical School Discussant - Andrea Solarz 9 -10:45 a.m., Saturday, June 15

Participatory Approaches to Prevention Science

Theory Presenter - Pat Tolan, UIC Action Presenter - Steve Pokorny, DePaul Discussant - Barton Hirsch, Northwestern University 11 a.m.-12:45 p.m., Saturday, June 15

Community University Partnerships

Theory Presenters - Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar and Phil Nyden, Loyola Action Presenters - Margaret Davis, Joe Ferrari, Brad Olson and Josefina Alvarez, all of DePaul Discussant - Paul Toro 9 a.m.-10:45 p.m., Saturday, June 15

Conference steering committee members are: Joe Durlak, Loyola; Margaret Davis, DePaul; Daryl Holtz-Isenberg, Illinois Self-Help Coalition; Leonard Jason, DePaul; Christopher Keys, UIC; Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar, Loyola; Renee Taylor, UIC; and Georgina Tegart, UIC. For more information, go to http://www.psch.uic.edu/conference/about/about.html or call Leonard A. Jason, director of DePaul’s Center for Research, 773-325-2018; or Joe Durlak, professor of psychology at Loyola, 773-508-2969; or Christopher Keys, professor and chair of the psychology department, UIC, 312-413-2640.

Editor’s Note: Reporters wishing to access the research papers on the conference Web site may call Anne Dybek, (312) 996-8279.

CONFERENCE FACT SHEET

What is community psychology?

Community psychology is a fairly new discipline that takes on more of a public health mission – providing the skills, competencies and support to navigate a preventive course of action. Evaluative in scope and impacting large numbers of people, community psychology focuses on problem solving. Community psychologists work closely with social service providers to help improve health conditions through research that affects positive change. There are more community psychologists in the Chicago area than anywhere else in the United States.

What is the goal of the Chicago Conference on Community Research Participatory Methods?

The conference goal is to create a structured and inclusive framework to discuss myriad problem- solving methods and issues in participatory research among psychology professionals, students, community agency representatives and consumer groups.

Why is this conference significant to Chicago?

Why are partnerships between university researchers and the community so critical?

Working together provides a better opportunity to study the issues that matter to community groups, and community grass-roots members can feel empowered to guide researchers in the process of discovery. By being actively involved in the planning of intervention programs, both parties learn to identify resources and become better problem solvers who are more likely to manage future challenges and issues. Interventions (formal programs) that have been generated from collaborative efforts are more apt to endure. This approach analyzes traditions for responding to community problems, helps evaluate or create settings that provide individuals with opportunities to continue receiving support after the termination of formal programs, and works closely with community leaders in all aspects of health care intervention.

Where should we turn for more information about the role of community psychology and partnerships with Chicago communities?

Individuals are being trained at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Loyola and DePaul. These individuals represent a new breed of psychologist – one whose laboratory is the streets of Chicago. These new psychologists work with drug abuse problems; chronic health conditions such as AIDS and chronic fatigue syndrome; homelessness; individuals with disabilities; self-help organizations; and violence prevention. For more information about specific research that is being conducted at all three universities, please contact:

Leonard A. Jason Director of the Center for Community Research DePaul University 773/325-2018 or ljason@depaul.edu

Joe Durlak Psychology Professor Loyola University 773/508-2969 or jdurlak@luc.edu

DePaul University “Community Participation in Fatigue Epidemiology” Susan R. Torres-Harding

773-325-4628

Prior to the DePaul University prevalence study of chronic fatigue syndrome in a community-based setting that was published by the Archive of Internal Medicine in October of 1999, everything researchers knew about CFS was based on research among whites. The first CFS study in the nation to focus on people of color in an urban setting (Chicago) resulted in two important conclusions: 1) People of color are sicker with CFS and 2) A vast majority of people with CFS are undiagnosed.

· Epidemiology is broadly defined as the study of the distribution and determinants of disease in human populations.

· Epidemiological efforts focus on disease prevention, incidence and prevalence measurement and disease control.

· Both epidemiology and community psychology emphasize the value of prevention and promotion of health.

· Some illnesses – chronic fatigue syndrome is one – are not addressed appropriately using traditional methodology, including examination of existing hospital records and physician reporting of illness.

· Reliance on hospital records and physician reporting do not accurately record occurrence of an illness when a substantial portion of people who suffer from the illness do not seek medical help through traditional means.

· Community-based interventions are more appropriate when there is reason to believe that people are not readily accessible to researchers through the traditional health care system.

· Access is one of the barriers to community-based health study, and it is imperative that there be participation from the community on how to reach its people because methodology influences the outcome of the research.

DePaul University “A Community-University Collaboration to Prevent Youth Tobacco Use” Steven B. Pokorny and Peter Y. Ji 773-325-1892

This study provides two examples of community-university partnerships. The first centers on the collaborative work between a DePaul University research team and a community (Woodridge, Ill.) that successfully addressed the problem of youth being able to purchase tobacco products in neighborhood stores. A Woodridge police officer spearheaded the intervention that resulted in a decrease in youth tobacco use, and he was instrumental in the design of the intervention plan and the dissemination of its findings.

The second example of community-research collaboration involves the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation and focuses on the question of how to replicate a successful social innovation in other communities. The following are highlights of the findings for both studies:

· Collaborative community work can successfully address the problem of youth being able to purchase tobacco products in neighborhood stores.

· Woodridge was the first community in which a local tobacco sales ordinance was developed and research was demonstrated to produce social change.

· A high level of community involvement in all phases of the intervention of tobacco sales process results in strong community ownership of the innovation.

There are 11 other towns in Illinois where community-university partnerships to curtail tobacco use among minors have been implemented.

These studies found that when community members are involved in the research, they became more invested and took ownership of the interventions to eliminate tobacco sales to minors, which resulted in greater adoption and maintenance of the innovation.

DePaul University “The Oxford House Project: Lessons Learned from a University-Community Collaboration” Margaret I. Davis, Joseph R. Ferrari, Bradley D. Olson and Josefina Alvarez

773-325-4964

The DePaul University-Oxford House collaboration marks a 10-year relationship in which community and researchers have maintained a mutually beneficial alliance. Oxford House is a network of homes that offer residents a supportive, democratic, mutual-help setting established and maintained by recovering alcoholics and addicts living together in order to develop long-term abstinence skills.

The DePaul University-Oxford House collaboration has resulted in:

· The development and maintenance of a relationship that supports the growth and investigation of the Oxford House community, as well as the residents’ ownership of this process.

· A five-year study (now in year two) of the low recidivism, or relapse, rate among Oxford House residents.

· Involvement in Supreme Court cases advancing the right to open homes in desirable locations.

· The finding of homes for individuals and families affected by substance abuse in Illinois.

· The employment of members of the Oxford House community and the promotion of members’ career development.

· An opportunity to gain better understanding of the Oxford House model through a unique form of access, and to explore the process of community living within these homes and its effect on recovery.