The pursuit of excellence: engaging the community in participatory health research

Community-based participatory research approaches are designed to improve health and well-being in communities and to minimize health disparities in general. It is this partnership approach to research that equitably involves community members, organizational representatives and researchers in all aspects of the research process and in which all partners contribute expertise, decision-making and ownership. Further to this, community-based participatory research is utilized to study and address community-identified issues through a collaborative and empowering action-oriented process that builds on the strengths of the community. The results of this research endeavour highlight the need for integrating community-based participatory research, primary health care and social accountability in the pursuit of excellence. The process and the results/findings provide ways that the community are able to enhance their health and wellness, increase capacity and be empowered to direct their education, research and service activities towards addressing and meeting the health priorities of the community.