Principles of practice for academic/practice/community research partnerships

Context: Researchers and practitioners are increasingly realizing that impr ovements in public health require changes in individual, social, and econom ic factors. Concurrent with this renewed awareness there has been a growing interest in working with communities to create healthful changes through a cademic/practice/communitv research partnerships. However, this type of res earch presents different challenges and requires different skills than trad itional research projects. The development of a set of principles of practi ce for these types of research projects can assist researchers in developin g, implementing, and evaluating their partnerships and their project activi ties. Objective: This paper describes the different ways in which academics and c ommunity groups may work together, including academic/practice/community pa rtnerships. Several principles of practice for engaging in these research p artnerships 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 communit y 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 partner ship; and (7) be aware of partnership maturation and associated transition periods. The limitations of these principles and their application in vario us settings are discussed.