The CARE–CDC Health Initiative: A Model for Global Participatory Research

In 1997, the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation provided $5 million, through the CDC Foundation, for the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) International and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create a sustainable partnership in global health. The investment provided discretionary resources and an incentive for CARE and CDC to maximize each other's strengths. This grant enabled the CARE–CDC Health Initiative (CCHI) to fund 9 collaborative projects in Africa and Central and South America and 1 Atlanta-based project involving CARE and CDC headquarters staff. Now, 4 years later, CCHI is concluding its initial phase of activity. Reports from these projects, which reflect community-based participatory research, are featured in this special global health issue of the Journal. Significantly, nearly all of the articles have been authored or coauthored by CARE national field staff and demonstrate the unique ways in which CCHI has fostered community-based participatory research. In this editorial we discuss the current research process, community-based participatory research as a philosophical premise, the CCHI model, and recommendations for the future.