TY - JOUR
T1 - Community science as a pathway for resilience in response to a public health crisis in Flint, Michigan
AU - Carrera, Jennifer S.
AU - Key, Kent
AU - Bailey, Sarah
AU - Hamm, Joseph A.
AU - Cuthbertson, Courtney A.
AU - Lewis, E. Yvonne
AU - Woolford, Susan J.
AU - DeLoney, E. Hill
AU - Greene-Moton, Ella
AU - Wallace, Kaneesha
AU - Robinson, De Waun E.
AU - Byers, Ismael
AU - Piechowski, Patricia
AU - Evans, Luther
AU - McKay, Athena
AU - Vereen, Don
AU - Sparks, Arlene
AU - Calhoun, Karen
N1 - For the analysis of the focus group session data, we adapted a model established by an earlier community engaged research effort, the RC4 project (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2018). Prior to the water crisis, MICHR received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to work with the CRAs to conduct community-engaged research into issues related to trust and research across predominately African American populations in Southeast Michigan. The “Enhancing Community/Academic Clinical Research Collaboration”, or RC4 project as it was called, explored trust in three communities (Flint, Detroit, and Washtenaw County and Ann Arbor) to facilitate collaboration between academic health centers and community-based organizations for health science research. Two to three focus groups were held in each community to get an understanding of communities’ perceptions of research and what it takes to get underrepresented communities to be more involved with community-engaged research.
Funding: This research was funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences grant number UL1TR002240.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - While the story of the Flint water crisis has frequently been told, even sympathetic analyses have largely worked to make invisible the significant actions of Flint residents to protect and advocate for their community. Leaving the voices of these stakeholders out of narratives about the crisis has served to deepen distrust in the community. Our project responds to these silences through a community-driven research study aimed explicitly at elevating the frame of Flint residents in and around the Flint water crisis. This paper describes the coming together of the research team, the overall project design for each of the three research efforts, and lessons learned. The three sub-projects include: (1) a qualitative analysis of community sentiment provided during 17 recorded legislative, media, and community events, (2) an analysis of trust in the Flint community through nine focus groups across demographic groups (African American, Hispanic, seniors, and youth) of residents in Flint, and (3) an analysis of the role of the faith-based community in response to public health crises through two focus groups with faith based leaders from Flint involved with response efforts to the water crisis. Our study offers insight for understanding trust in crisis, which could be valuable to other communities and researchers seeking to address similar situations. The project offers community science as a model for considering community engagement in research as part of the process of resilience.
AB - While the story of the Flint water crisis has frequently been told, even sympathetic analyses have largely worked to make invisible the significant actions of Flint residents to protect and advocate for their community. Leaving the voices of these stakeholders out of narratives about the crisis has served to deepen distrust in the community. Our project responds to these silences through a community-driven research study aimed explicitly at elevating the frame of Flint residents in and around the Flint water crisis. This paper describes the coming together of the research team, the overall project design for each of the three research efforts, and lessons learned. The three sub-projects include: (1) a qualitative analysis of community sentiment provided during 17 recorded legislative, media, and community events, (2) an analysis of trust in the Flint community through nine focus groups across demographic groups (African American, Hispanic, seniors, and youth) of residents in Flint, and (3) an analysis of the role of the faith-based community in response to public health crises through two focus groups with faith based leaders from Flint involved with response efforts to the water crisis. Our study offers insight for understanding trust in crisis, which could be valuable to other communities and researchers seeking to address similar situations. The project offers community science as a model for considering community engagement in research as part of the process of resilience.
KW - Community-based participatory research
KW - Environmental justice
KW - Knowledge production
KW - Qualitative research
KW - Team science
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85063860740
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85063860740&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/socsci8030094
DO - 10.3390/socsci8030094
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85063860740
SN - 2076-0760
VL - 8
JO - Social Sciences
JF - Social Sciences
IS - 3
M1 - 94
ER -