CBPR Partnerships and Near-Roadway Pollution: A Promising Strategy to Influence the Translation of Research into Practice.

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) aims to engage those traditionally left out of the research process. Partnering with community stakeholders to design, plan, implement and disseminate research can facilitate translation into practice. Using qualitative research methods, we set out to explore the policy and practice implications of a CBPR partnership focused on reducing exposure to near-roadway pollution. Key Informant interviews (n = 13) were conducted with individuals from various entities (municipal, state and private) for whom partners to the Community Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health (CAFEH) provided technical assistance between 2013 and 2017. The findings indicate community research partnerships may have the power to inform local planning efforts. Developers and planners who the partnership consulted indicated a greater awareness of the implications of near-roadway exposure. They also described making changes in their practice based on study findings. The CAFEH partnership has demonstrated active attention to translating knowledge can influence local planning and practice, albeit with some challenges.

Emergence and evolution of social self-management of Parkinson's disease: study protocol for a 3-year prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease affects facial, vocal and trunk muscles. As symptoms progress, facial expression becomes masked, limiting the person's ability to communicate emotions and intentions to others. As people with the disease live and reside in their homes longer, the burden of caregiving is unmitigated by social and emotional rewards provided by an expressive individual. Little is known about how adults living with Parkinson's disease manage their social lives and how an inability to be emotionally expressive can affect social connections and health. Because social networks have been shown to be crucial to the overall well-being of people living with chronic diseases, research is needed on how expressive capacity affects life trajectories and health. METHODS/DESIGN: The overall objective is to understand the emergence and evolution of the trajectories of the self-management of the social lives of people living with Parkinson's disease. The central hypothesis is that expressive capacity predicts systematic change in the pattern of social self-management and quality of life outcomes. The specific aims of this 3-year longitudinal study of 120 people with the disease and a maximum of 120 care partners are: 1) characterize social self-management trajectories over a 3-year period; 2) estimate the degree to which expressive nonverbal capacity predicts the trajectory; and 3) determine the moderating effect of gender on the association between expressive capacity and change in social self-management. Each participant will be assessed 14 times to detect rapid and non-linear changes in social participation and management of social activities; social network; and social comfort, general health and well-being. DISCUSSION: This project will provide evidence to guide the development of interventions for supporting social integration of those living with Parkinson's disease, thus leading to improved overall health. It focuses on the novel construct of social self-management and known factors-expressive capacity and gender-that contribute to stigmatization. The repeated measures design detects triggers of rapid changes in social and health outcomes.