Citation

Khodyakov D, Mikesell L, Bromley E. Eur J Pers Cent Healthc 2017; 5(4): 522-526.

Affiliation

Associate Professor in Residence, Semel Institute Center for Health Services and Society, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Research Psychiatrist, Desert Pacific MIRECC, West Los Angeles VA Healthcare Center, 10920 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024, ebromley@mednet.ucla.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017)

DOI

10.5750/ejpch.v5i4.1263

PMID

29375883

PMCID

PMC5785932

Abstract

Community-engaged research (CEnR), which emphasizes equal participation of academic and community partners in research, seeks to improve public trust in science. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of rigorous empirical research on trust as a core component of ethical conduct of CEnR. Drawing on data collected from a project on the ethics of CEnR, this commentary discusses benefits and risks of trust and uses the concept of embeddedness to explain how public trust in science may be increased. We argue that in developing and maintaining trust, partners must balance scientific rigor with community relevance and cultural appropriateness of research. They must strike a balance between working with the same limited pool of trusted partners, which can speed research but slow wider acceptance of science, and extending their trust to new partners, which can broaden acceptance of science but slow research. Practitioners may facilitate the development of trust in science by gradually expanding the pool of partners they choose their collaborators from.

Language: en

Keywords

Community-Engaged Research; Embeddedness; Research Ethics; Trust