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** Connecting the dots: Partnering with community to build community based participatory research skills among graduate students ** Vicki Hines-Martin, Professor & Director, Office of Health Disparities and Community Engagement, University of Louisville School of Nursing [vphine01@louisville.edu]

Sharon Bowland Assistant Professor & Hartford Geriatric Research Scholar, University of Louisville [sharon.bowland@louisville.edu]

**Keywords:** Health services, public housing, quality of life, Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR)

**Conference track:** Community partnerships and outcomes

**Format:** Research/Scholarly paper

This paper discusses a university partnership with a low-income public housing community that led inter-professional health services students involved in the development of real world strategies to undertake and complete a study that included qualitative and quantitative research methods. The purpose of the project was twofold: 1) to conduct research to complete a comprehensive assessment of health status and quality of life indicators and perceptions of community residents to determine strengths and challenges of community living from the perspective of residents with chronic mental health and aging concerns and 2) to provide health services graduate students with experience in Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR). The setting for the study was a low-income, inner city public housing complex.
 * Summary **

The study was based on the Social Ecology model, which stresses the importance of the context in which individuals exist; how individuals and their environment interact; and the effect those interactions have on their health status, behaviors, and quality of life. Therefore, the study focused not only on residents’ perceptions of their health and quality of life but also on the environment in which they resided and their perceptions of how this environment influenced their health and quality of life. The study involved individual interviews using quantitative and qualitative measures and focus group sessions.

Collaboration with community partners included two community forums and information sessions, several small group updates and work sessions, and a final community report. Students learned how to collaborate with community partners for a win-win outcome.

There were no references provided with this proposal.
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