By Valerie Burrell-Muhammad, Dr. Mom, Community Researcher and Engaging Richmond team member
The world of academia and research is a challenge for those who are not so blessed to work in that realm day in and day out. As a community researcher with Engaging Richmond (ER), we welcome the opportunity to help shape a better future in our neighborhoods. Through our university-community partnership, we are creating a legacy, improving and strengthening community-based participatory research practices. Developing a process of community-engaged research is not easy. ER strives to and struggles with full engagement. Making meaningful contributions to the field of research that are recognized by our peers, partners, and our communities is what drives us.
The task is daunting and thankless at times. We all experience that. Without exception, ER’s modus operandi is a combination of academia, research, quantitative, qualitative, deductive, indicative, pros, cons, evidence-based, best practices, wraparound, measuring, the non-medical versus the medical, team-building, effective strategies, prevention strategies, lived experiences, knowing, telling, sharing, caring, and consensus decision-making. We employ a pro-family approach to develop community-based participatory research that values and respects input from diverse stakeholders. By implementing community-engaged research to promote healthy systems, healthy families, and healthy communities, we hope to create a groundswell for successful community investment.
Community engaged research offers an opportunity for community members to come together and create not just a knowledge base but a common language.
As researchers, we should not shun processes and terminology that seem or sound, homegrown, folksy, anecdotal, out of place, out of time, out of sync, not part of the norm, or holistic in its approach. These words have played an important role in our everyday lives and are valuable in the world of research.
Partnerships, relationship-building, and networking are not the magic formula for the twenty-first century, but have been in place for centuries. Now it is our turn and time to contribute to the next great legacy of research.
Engaging Richmond has participants from all walks of life: M.D., Ph.D., M.S.W., M.P.H., B.S., B.A., Dr. Mom, Dr. Dad, PTA parents and partners, food bank volunteers and recipients, next door neighbors, mentors, consultants, authors, co-authors, and facilitators. We all work together for the good of the community. Each of us is a valuable partner in conducting research that is relevant especially to those who are impacted by it. Through this process we are also building unity within our community, which may be one of our most important legacies.