Community-Based Participatory Research in Boston's Neighborhoods: A Review of Asthma Case Examples

ABSTRACT

Three case examples of asthma studies that differ in terms of community and involvement are considered. The Boston Chinatown studies faced limited funding that restricted the level of community involvement, but resulted in some of the first published evidence about asthma in Asian American children. These studies led to an asthma education program grant to a local Asian clinic and elementary school. The public housing study was a well-funded multi-year study of asthma and pest management with city, university and community partners. Residents were trained to collect data and participated throughout the study. Follow up pest management and pesticide buy-back programs headed by the city and community partners have been funded. The Dorchester case had more limited funding, but had the greatest level of involvement of parents of asthmatic children in all phases of the research. This survey led to an interesting novel finding of lower asthma prevalence in foreign born black residents.

KEYWORDS:

• African Americans
• asthma
• community-based participatory research
• epidemiology
• research methods

Notes

Tufts-New England Medical Center is a separate corporate entity from Tufts University and the Asian Clinic counts as a community-based organization in our framework.

The research phase of the Healthy Public Housing Initiative was funded by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control (grant no. MALHH0077-00), as well as grants from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Boston Foundation, and the Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust. In addition, HPHI received allergy-free mattresses from the Simmons Company and air filtration equipment from the Sharper Image Corporation. HPHI Partners are the Boston Housing Authority and the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC); the Committee for Boston Public Housing (CBPH); the West Broadway Tenant Task Force and the Franklin Hill Tenant Task Force; Boston's 3 schools of public health at Boston University, Harvard University, and Tufts University; and Peregrine Energy and Urban Habitat Initiatives.