Investigators from the HIV Center's Global Community Core have published "A Practical Framework for Navigating Ethical Challenges in Collaborative Community Research."

The article presents a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that can be used as a strategy to address new rules of engagement between researchers and community partners. It incorporates the principle that all partners are partially accountable and responsible for the integrity of the research project. It provides a framework for community research partnership development, through ethical principles and practical discussion points, that can promote effective collaboration, allowing collaborating stakeholders to anticipate the ways in which individuals, groups, and communities can participate in and be affected by a research process. In this way, potential benefits and adverse consequences can be identified and anticipated in planning.

The MOU was developed by the HIV Center’s Global Community Core (GCC) as a tool for developing effective community- research partnerships. This framework was informed by GCC members’ professional experiences, including insights gained from a series of community outreach initiatives organized and facilitated by Core members. It was written by Joyce Hunter, D.S.W., David Lounsbury, Ph.D., Bruce Rapkin, Ph.D., and Robert Remien, Ph.D.

How it works

The MOU is a tool for initiating open dialogue among prospective research and community partners about the purpose, context, methods, and outcomes of a proposed community-based research project. It can be used by potential research and community partners to address the most important issues early in a collaborative research project. Clarifying essential roles, responsibilities, and relationships, and establishing trust and transparency in that process, can guide collaborators in planning the important steps for beginning and sustaining an ethical and successful research project.

Over the course of two years, the CCC facilitated a series of activities at various events that fostered the development and assessment of the framework. These activities are briefly described in chronological order below.

Exploratory Focus Groups. In order to begin to identify the content of the framework, two focus groups were conducted at a GCC conference on “Building Partnerships for HIV Research and Evaluation with the Community,” which included participants from AIDS service organizations, state and local public health agencies, and researchers from the HIV Center and other academic institutions.

Confirmatory Workshops. At an international HIV/AIDS research conference, the authors conducted workshops for researchers and community representatives interested in community research partnerships. These workshops began with a general presentation of the framework as a tool for establishing effective community research partnerships.

Field Testing. Based on the information and validation gathered at the international workshops, this framework was further assessed for its utility as a tool for promoting collaborative research projects. The framework was further explored atthe GCC conference on “Working Together: Partnerships to Address the Impact of HIV on Families,” held in New York City.

Representatives from many organizations were involved in the development of the MOU, including: AIDS Center Queens County, Asian-Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Bronx Community Pride Center, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, Harlem United Community AIDS Center , LGBT Community Center, VIP Services, ACRIA, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Hunter College Center on Community and Urban Health, and Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Citation: Hunter, J., Lounsbury, D., Rapkin, B., & Remien, R. (2011). A practical framework for navigating ethical challenges in collaborative community research. Global Journal for Community Psychology Practice, 1(2).

To access the full article, published in the Global Journal of
Community Psychology Practice, click here.