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This paper presents a critical reflection on the use of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) in a project aimed at improving the health of children with asthma living in subsidized housing in Washington, DC. Childhood asthma is shaped by clinical, environmental, and structural factors, including housing disinvestment and environmental injustice that disproportionately burden Black families. Using CBPR, we center residents’ lived experiences, identify social and structural contributors to asthma, and examine how housing and health programs are implemented and perceived. Drawing on critical reflections from an interdisciplinary, multiracial research team comprising faculty, students, and community partners, we describe how CBPR principles were applied, challenges encountered, and strategies used to address power imbalances, mistrust, and resource constraints. Findings demonstrate that CBPR enabled the documentation of overlooked environmental conditions and supported the dissemination of evidence beyond academic settings. This reflection underscores CBPR’s value in addressing environmental injustice, advancing racial health equity, and strengthening community-driven responses to environmental challenges.
Liu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.