Journal Article

The Case for Community‐Owned and ‐Managed Research and Community Health Assessments: Promotora‐Researchers’ Partnerships Generate Adaptive Health Evaluation Tools

Rodriguez, S., Somepalle, S., Wilson, M., Aranda, A., Ontiveros, J., Ho, W. L. J., Manukian, S., Deeb‐Sossa, N., Pardo, E., Tang, J., Kelty, J., Piñon, D.

2025

Overview

Federal and state health data sets often lack the granularity needed for medically underserved small towns. To address this, we conducted two community health assessment surveys in Knights Landing (KL), a rural agricultural town in California, to identify local healthcare strengths, barriers, and needs. Utilizing a Community‐Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) framework, our project centered on a collaboration between academic‐researchers and promotora‐researchers: community leaders who evolved from activists to empowered research partners over a decade. Data from an initial randomized survey in 2013 (N = 88) informed the design of a follow‐up survey in 2018 (N = 100). For the 2018 survey, promotora‐researchers made the executive decision to shift to snowball sampling, which provided a deeper understanding of the health experiences of the clinic's most vulnerable and historically underrepresented populations. Both surveys produced actionable community‐owned data that stimulated significant community organizing, led to expanded services at the student‐led clinic (KLOHC), and cultivated public health investments for Knights Landing. This study demonstrates how a decade‐long partnership, grounded in shared power and evolving into a Community‐Owned and ‐Managed Research (COMR) model, can generate a robust and adaptive health assessment tool. Ultimately, this work highlights the transformative power of community involvement in health research for creating impactful and enduring change. Plain Language Summary Federal and state government agencies manage health data to understand regional health needs, but this information is less helpful to understand needs at a small‐town scale. In Knights Landing, CA, residents decided to identify local health needs and barriers to accessing and affording medical care by administering surveys in their agricultural rural town. Healthcare promoters and local leaders worked alongside academic scholar‐activists and nonprofits to design the surveys, recruit participants, conduct surveys, and interpret survey findings. Local leadership began owning and managing the research project in the 2018 survey after the academic‐led 2013 survey. The survey results led to real changes in Knights Landing like community organizing and new investments. These surveys also helped the local student‐run health clinic offer more services and respond to the needs of residents. This manuscript documents over a decade of teamwork between local resident leaders and academic scholar‐activists based on sharing trust and sharing power while creating a survey that can be customized and serve local priorities. Key Points Community health surveys informed community organizing and the actions of a student‐led nonprofit clinic in Knights Landing, California Promotora‐researchers partnered with academic researchers and nonprofits to conduct this Community‐Based Participatory Action Research Over a decade of collaborative research produced a survey tool that gave rise to localized data based on community‐identified health need

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc,Wiley
• Subject: Advisors / Advocacy / Censuses / Collaboration / Community / Community action / Community involvement / community‐based participatory action research / community‐owned and managed‐research / Data collection / Environmental health / Health care access / Health care policy / health promotion / healthcare access barriers / Human resources / Landing / Latinx health / Mental health / Needs analysis / Neurosciences / Partnerships / Polls & surveys / Primary care / Public health / Research methodology / Researchers / Surveys / utilization of health services