The data we present also point to some challenges experienced with this approach. For example, CBPR projects—including ours—often have lofty goals that community members will become deeply engaged in interpreting results and in helping identify their importance for science and/or practice. Yet we found that the local coalition leaders with whom we worked were—understandably—more concerned with achieving outcomes and answering questions related to their own communities rather than the overall set of intervention communities. In addition, it has been more difficult for us to engage delayed intervention communities than intervention communities—in meaningful ways. And the coordinators of the intervention coalitions noted some important drawbacks, in addition to benefits, to participation in the study.
