A Cultural‐Variant Approach to Community‐Based Participatory Research: New Ideas for Family Professionals

The cultural-variant community-based participatory research (CV-CBPR) model expands the traditional community-based participatory research (CBPR) model and supports the ongoing creation of innovative basic family and translational science. The CV-CBPR model supports family professionals using a cultural-variant perspective that discourages the use of a deficit or pathological lens. It also encourages inclusive and culture-sensitive practices in all stages of a project. After a brief review of diverse types of community or action-research projects and the nine principles of the traditional CBPR model, a cultural-variant perspective and related principles are described. We offer lessons learned from two project management experiences: a community-focused, disaster project with older survivors of Hurricane Katrina and a CBPR arctic-climate project with Alaska Native grandparents rearing grandchildren.