Making meaning in collaboration with communities: Co-creation through concept mapping methodology

Community-Based Participatory Research is a collaborative approach to research that engages community members alongside researchers in all stages of the research process including shared decision making on community-prioritized research initiatives. The inclusion of the community ensures that research and interventions are relevant to the lived experience and daily lives of those most affected. Including the multiple and diverse perspectives of all partners in the research process is a methodological challenge. In work to identify strategies to address HIV in a local Black faith community, Concept Mapping was used to address the methodological challenge of inclusion. This session will discuss the process of creating maps with the community and discuss how the results will be used to guide future program development. In particular we will present the rationale for and discuss the challenges of using CM methodology in the CBPR framework.