Background: Elements of charrette planning were employed to develop and examine the relationship between transnationalism, culture and health.
Objective: This paper describes the partnership, the first two stages of the planning charrette and lessons learned.
Methods: During charrette planning phase 1 we collected data through social network interviews (n = 58), cultural conversations (n = 88), and photovoice (n = 9). In the second phase we performed five charrette planning meetings. Data were synthesized by the planning team.
Lessons learned: The issue centered focus facilitated trust among partners. The holistic, iterative process to planning and interpreting preliminary data provided a deeper understanding of the issues under investigation. Community partners at the table held us accountable to the communities we were studying and infused an undercurrent of social justice in our work.
Conclusions: There are advantages in employing a community engaged transdisciplinary team-based approach to the study of transnationalism, culture and health.