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House Chats as a Grassroots Engagement Methodology in Community-Based Participatory Research: The WE Project, Petersburg
- Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 10, Issue 3, Fall 2016
- pp. 391-400
- 10.1353/cpr.2016.0046
- Article
- Additional Information
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The Wellness Engagement (WE) Project is an academic–community partnership developed to engage the community to inform the development of a pilot intervention aimed at promoting healthy eating and physical activity among residents of Petersburg, Virginia.
Objectives: To implement House Chats as a novel methodology for engaging community members in focused discussion about obesity, exercise, dietary intake, and barriers to health.
Methods: We recruited and trained laypersons as House Chat Leaders (HCLs) to host informal group discussions about obesity with members of their network in a social setting following predetermined questions.
Results: HCLs hosted 34 House Chats with 176 participants over a period of 4 months.
Conclusions: The House Chat proved to be a highly successful engagement strategy that allowed access to respondents who may not have participated in a traditional, focus group discussion.