Principles of practice for academic/ practice/community research partnerships

Context: Researchers and practitioners are increasingly realizing that improvements in public health require changes in individual, social, and economic factors. Concurrent with this renewed awareness there has been a growing interest in working with communities to create healthful changes through academic/practice/community research partnerships. However, this type of research presents different challenges and requires different skills than traditional research projects. The development of a set of principles of practice for these types of research projects can assist researchers in developing, implementing, and evaluating their partnerships and their project activities. Objective: This paper describes the different ways in which academics and community groups may work together, including academic/practice/community partnerships. Several principles of practice for engaging in these research partnerships are presented followed by a description of how these principles have been put into operation in a family violence prevention program. Conclusions: The principles presented are: (1) identify the best processes/model to be used based on the nature of the issue and the intended outcome; (2) acknowledge the difference between community input and active community involvement; (3) develop relationships based on mutual trust and respect; (4) acknowledge and honor different partner’s “agendas”; (5) consider multi-disciplinary approaches; (6) use evaluation strategies that are consistent with the overall approach taken in the academic/practice/community partnership; and (7) be aware of partnership maturation and associated transition periods. The limitations of these principles and their application in various settings are discussed.