Jeni Hebert-Beirne’s research while affiliated with University of Illinois Chicago and other places

Objectives/Goals: Citizen Science (CS) recognizes the vital role that community members play in research, centering their unique lived experiences and perspectives across the research cycle. We aim to enhance community-engaged research (CEnR) by adapting a CS Program at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS). Methods/Study Population: The CS Program, launched in response to COVID-19, was designed/piloted for Chicago community members interested in research careers, developing evidence-based practice skills, and/or partnering with academic, community, and/or public health organizations. To inform program adaptation, we are conducting a landscape assessment, including 1) inventory/annotation of existing curricular materials, 2) review of peer-reviewed literature, 3) website extraction of existing CS programs’ key components, and 4) interviewing key informants. An Advisory Board of prior CS instructors/alumni will guide curriculum adaptation, coordination, and fidelity. We will also identify strategic internal/external UIC organizational partnerships to collaborate on establishing, developing, and conducting the program. Results/Anticipated Results: Literature describes common CS program typology as a continuum, from research done “with the people” to research conducted “by the people” (King et al, 2016). Our program will equip CS to engage across these conceptual continuums. We plan to launch the UIC CCTS CS Program by Fall 2025 and have 10 online modules with a disability justice lens. Topics will range from Critical Thinking and the Research Process to Structural Violence and Evaluation Frameworks. Grounded in liberatory pedagogy, sessions will be taught by UIC faculty, staff, and community partners, each containing a lecture, interactive activities, and assessments. Participants will earn a certificate applicable to related jobs (e.g., academic/community research), supplement community health worker training, precursor to health degrees, and more. Discussion/Significance of Impact: Through the CS Program, we aim to center community expertise and lived experience within research, foster bi-directional collaborations and relationships, and build community capacity. We are evaluating this project adaptation and implementation to create a blueprint for institutions to enhance their community-engaged research.

Purpose In response to disparities in COVID-19 vaccine uptake in urban environments, we ascertained whether a community-engaged evaluation could rapidly determine why unvaccinated Chicago residents were hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Approach The assessment used a mixed-methods approach, grounded in community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles. Setting Interviews were conducted by community partners between April and May 2022 in Chicago, in-person and via phone. Participants A purposive sample of Chicagoans (n = 456), who were: (1) adults (≥18 years); (2) living in priority areas in Chicago heavily impacted by COVID-19; (3) who spoke English or Spanish; and (4) had not received the COVID-19 vaccine. Method A transdisciplinary academic-community team co-developed an assessment tool. Members of Chicago’s Community Health Response Corps (CHRC) (N = 115) interviewed participants, using a 46-item survey in Qualtrics. Interviews were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative software, including Dedoose for coding and SAS for descriptive statistics. Results Over half of all respondents were not concerned about getting COVID-19. Respondents voiced concerns about side effects (36%), vaccine safety (27%), and trust in governmental institutions, given historical events involving unethical research. Participants also reported other social needs (e.g., food or housing insecurity) that made COVID-19 a lower priority. Conclusion The collaborative research approach highlighted issues of trust, concerns about side effects and vaccine safety, issues that have informed vaccine messaging.

Emergency events such as natural disasters, pandemics, and other health disasters have a predictably disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations and the COVID‐19 pandemic was not an exception. To respond to potentially catastrophic consequences of COVID‐19 and to build an infrastructure for a more inclusive recovery, in June 2020, the Chicago Department of Public Health partnered with a state university school of public health, a community college that prepares students for healthcare occupations, a research institute at a private university, a public health institute affiliated with a hospital system, and a workforce development organisation. The team formed the Chicago COVID‐19 Contact Tracing Corps (ChiTracing). Centring the expertise of grassroots community‐based organisations (CBOs), ChiTracing partnered with 31 CBOs operating in the highest hardship community areas. These CBOs hired and trained over 500 community members, who had a history of unemployment, as neighbourhood‐level public health ambassadors and contact tracers, known as the ChiTracing Corps members. Informed by a shared theory of change, we brought three strategies to this work : investing in a new public health infrastructure by centring trusted CBOs and people with lived experience of systems of oppression as part of the public health system, increasing awareness and knowledge of public health and available resources for the most vulnerable, and fostering relationships and power building among diverse collaborators. In this paper, we highlight lessons learnt and share insights on how future efforts can bring collaborative, inclusive approaches to public health workforce development.

Experiential learning is important in preparing the next generation of public health professionals to address health inequities. Students who aspire to work in community health must learn to engage with communities and advocate for change that aligns with community priorities. Learning about Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and related methodologies can facilitate students’ understanding of community engagement and community organizing. Photovoice, a CBPR methodology, provides a unique opportunity to understand the lived experiences of participants while identifying community-led solutions to address public health challenges. Photovoice has been used as a pedagogical tool to engage students as participants in reflection, critical thinking, discussion, and experiential learning. However, the peer-reviewed literature often lacks detailed accounts of methodology, and barriers and facilitators to engaging participants in photovoice. We provide a detailed account of our methodology as we co-learned with 23 graduate students as co-researcher-participants in a photovoice experiential learning project as part of a CBPR course at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health. Students reflected on their experience with the methodology by completing a series of fieldnotes while participating in photovoice. Fieldnotes were analyzed using an iterative inductive coding process. We present five themes from student reflections that convey barriers and facilitators to engaging in photovoice, and share related recommendations for using photovoice as a pedagogical tool to prepare the next generation of public health professions.

Objectives This cross-sectional survey aimed to examine employment characteristics and their associations with employment precarity in two high socio-economic hardship Chicago neighborhoods. Methods We used a community-based participatory approach to develop and administer a survey to residents who perceived their work situations to be precarious. Results 489 residents were surveyed. Responses were skewed towards the most precarious work situations, with the majority of respondents employed outside of a traditional arrangement. Those in the highest precarity category were most likely to identify as Latinx and born outside of the United States. Unstable, low quality employment conditions were nearly all significantly associated with highest precarity work situations. Conclusions Precarious employment is an important predictor of other employment conditions, and characterizing these at a hyperlocal level allows for a nuanced understanding of work as a determinant of health.