The production of knowledge is critical to the fight for justice. The Community Health Research Initiative is a collaborative effort to produce knowledge to improve community health. As academic and community partners, we are committed to democratic and relationship-centered research in which all partners are equally important.

Our initiative hopes to support community and academic partners who believe in the power of building knowledge (e.g., scientific evidence) to achieve health justice.

Our work

We are a newly established and growing group. Based in San Antonio and South Texas, we are trying to create opportunities for community research to be conducted outside academia. Our goal is to support communities and researchers to work together for action-oriented research.

Our research so far has been largely focused on our elders, especially those impacted by dementia and their families. Our region is deeply affected by dementia, a devastating and costly condition that disproportionately impacts communities of color. And yet, dementia research consistently fails to include the most impacted communities in studies that could help develop supportive programs, treatments, services, and policies.

Guided by community councils, we have two ongoing efforts to understand the impacts of dementia, create community-driven research agendas, and develop research engagement programs. Read more about the South Texas Dementia Project and Arab Dementia Research Project.