"The history of health in Dayton": a community-academic partnership

Academic institutions have always found it a challenge to persuade community members to participate in academic research projects. Starting an open dialogue is usually the critical first step. To begin this dialogue with community members in Dayton, Ohio, in 1999, staff from Wright State University decided to organize a community forum, "The History of Health in Dayton." The forum was intended as the first project of a new research organization, the Alliance for Research in Community Health (ARCH), established with federal funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration in 1998. ARCH was created as a bridge between the Department of Family Medicine of Wright State University School of Medicine and the Center for Healthy Communities, a health advocacy and service organization committed to health professions education. ARCH's mission is to improve the health of citizens of Dayton through research involving community participation. Through ARCH, community members help researchers define priorities, resolve ethical issues, refine procedures, and interpret results. Guidelines for participatory research, proposed by the National Primary Care Research Group in 1998 and adopted by the alliance, emphasize the importance of open dialogue among researchers, subjects, academics, and community members. The initial response to the forum was enthusiastic, with a majority of community residents expressing interest in attending future presentations.