The AzPRC's Community Action Board: The Driving Force to Healthier Communities
During the summer months, the AzPRC hosted Francisca Morales, an anthropology major and research scholar at the 2016 University of Arizona Graduate College's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Consortium, Minorities Health Disparities Program. Collaborating with her faculty mentor Dr. Kerstin M. Reinschmidt and other AzPRC staff, Francisca develop and carried out a research project with AzPRC Community Action Board (CAB) members.
The overall goals of the study were to learn how (1) CAB members understand their roles, and (2) the CAB represents the diversity of the border communities. Participant observation and open-ended interviews served to gather qualitative data. The analysis led to three major findings:
- With membership ranging between 1 and 16 years, CAB members expressed a very close and professional relationships with AzPRC staff;
- Decisions about the AzPRC research projects were very community-based participatory and community-oriented, i.e. serving the community's interests;
- While the CAB membership was already diverse, in terms of geographic location, ethnicity, gender, and type of organizations, the CAB continued to reach out to communities not yet represented.
CAB members seemed to play a fundamental role in helping the AzPRC build trust with communities. It thus seems that the CAB should maintain a representative membership. It would be advisable for the AzPRC to perform regular, formative CAB assessments of CAB member roles and diversity.
Reflecting on her project, Francisca observed: "I came into this project looking at how the CAB represents communities, and the CAB members' understanding of the CAB. Through interviews and observations, however, I also learned about the importance of the CAB to the AzPRC projects, the AzPRC, and the health of the community."
Francisca presented her summer research project at the UA in early August, both as a poster Poster and a power point presentation. In September, she will attend the quarterly meeting to share her project and experience with attending AzPRC staff and CAB members. Francisca will graduate from the UA in May 2017, and we wish her all the best for her future professional adventures.
Francisca at the CAB
