Building Partnerships in Community-Based Participatory Research: Budgetary and Other Cost Considerations

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is an important framework for partnering with communities to reduce health disparities. Working in partnership with community incurs additional costs, some that can be represented in a budget summary page and others that are tied to the competing demands placed on community and academic partners. These cost considerations can inform development of community-academic partnerships. We calculated costs from a case study based on an ongoing CBPR project involving a Community Planning Group (CPG) of community co-researchers in rural Alaska and a bicultural liaison group who help bridge communication between CPG and academic co-researchers. Budget considerations specific to CBPR include travel and other communication-related costs, compensation for community partners, and food served at meetings. We also identified sources of competing demands for community and academic partners. Our findings can inform budget discussions in community-academic partnerships. Discussions of competing demands on community partners' time can help plan timelines for CBPR projects. Our findings may also inform discussions about tenure and promotion policies that may represent barriers to participation in CBPR for academic researchers.