Community-based participatory research methods allow for community engagement in the effort to reduce cancer health disparities. Community engagement involves health professionals becoming a part of the community in order to build trust, learn from the community and empower them to reduce disparities through their own initiatives and ideas. Audience Response Systems (ARS) are an innovative and engaging way to involve the community and obtain data for research purposes using keypads to report results via power point. The use of ARS within communities is very limited and serves to widen the disparity gap by not delivering new advances in medical knowledge and technology among all population groups. ARS was implemented at a community town hall event sponsored by a National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Exploratory Center of Excellence, the Center for Equal Health. Participants appreciated being able to see how everyone else answered and felt included in the research process. ARS is beneficial because the community can answer truthfully and provides instant research results. Additionally, researchers can collect large amounts of data quickly, in a non-threatening way while tracking individual responses anonymously. Audience Response Systems proved to be an effective tool for successfully accomplishing community-based participatory research.

Several lessons were learned from utilizing the Audience Response System at the Center for Equal Health’s Town Hall event. First, the need for researchers to become familiar with the technology before initial use is extremely important. There can be certain malfunctions that occur during the set-up and actual use of the system, as with any technology. Some suggestions are to implement an ARS training for the research staff prior to the event and to pilottest the ARS at the actual event location within the community. This will help to minimize any problems that may arise during the event. A second suggestion is to include a blank slide between any data collection slides in the Power Point. As the movement from one slide to another initiates the data collection procedure, utilizing a blank slide can minimize any errors from accidently doubleclicking during the presentation. Moreover, questions need to be developed that are appropriate for the intended audience members. Researchers should make sure to understand the community they are serving and what appropriate literacy level is necessary. It is also important to use the ARS keypads during only one portion of the event, rather than going back and forth between the ARS and an open discussion. This will ensure higher response rates since the audience members are eagerly answering the ARS questions. Lastly, the use of ARS requires technological equipment in order to fully function properly in the community. The necessary equipment include: a laptop with the installed ARS software and Microsoft Power Point, a projector and screen, extension cords, and most importantly, access to electricity.

The Gathering of Neighborhood Voices Town Hall and the use of ARS has led to developing several future Center for Equal Health endeavors based on the results and input from the participants at the event. First, it was vital for CEH to report back to the community about this event and the data that were collected. So, the Community Engagement and Outreach Core published an article in a local newspaper after the event summarizing the purpose of the event and some of the major results from those who participated. The CEOC will continue to have more events using the ARS, similar to the Town Hall event, in other communities within the Tampa Bay area. Several comments received from participants indicated that the event was “very helpful and informative” and participants wanted the Center to make “another attempt to reach a larger section of community to come out.” CEH plans to participate in conferences and meetings where the Audience Response System can be utilized since it is important to develop more partnerships in the community to disseminate information about how the Center for Equal Health is working to reduce and eliminate cancer health disparities. For example, CEH will be conducting a panel session at a national conference held in the Tampa Bay area to teach the audience about health disparities and will use the ARS for an interactive and engaging experience for attendees. Additionally, CEH plans to host a Health Disparities Symposium to educate community members, physicians, nurses, and researchers about health disparities. At this symposium, the Audience Response System will also be incorporated throughout the event. The Center for Equal Health continues to work to address the needs of the community in order for community members to feel better satisfied with their health services.

Community-based participatory research warrants the involvement of the community for successful research outcomes. The use of an Audience Response System holds great promise to enable communities to become more actively involved in the research process. The goal of the Center for Equal Health is to continue to engage the community in its work to reduce cancer health disparities. The success of the center will be dependent on how strong the relationships become with the community. The Gathering of Neighborhood Voices Town Hall event is one example of how the Center for Equal Health successfully implemented the Audience Response System in the community. The Audience Response System was beneficial to get feedback from the community on cancer health disparities and issues that are important to them. In addition, the use of ARS solved the ethical dilemma that the Center faces when trying to ensure that community partners receive the results of the research in which they have contributed. By including the community in all stages of the research process, a true partnership can develop in which all members feel equally valued. The Audience Response System proved to be an effective, popular, and interactive tool for successfully accomplishing community-based participatory research.