Creating meaningful partnerships between communities and environmental health researchers: the role of a direct action community organizing agency

Abstract

Community engagement is a necessary, although challenging, element of environmental health research in communities. To facilitate the engagement process, direct action community organizing agencies can be useful in bringing together communities and researchers. This article describes the preliminary activities that one direct action community organizing agency used in partnership with researchers to improve community engagement in the first 6 months of an environmental health study conducted in a major U.S. city. Activities included developing communication strategies, creating opportunities for researcher-community interaction, and sustaining project momentum. To conduct environmental research that is both scientifically rigorous and relevant to communities, collaborating partners had to develop professional skills and strategies outside of their areas of expertise.