Community health advisors as research partners: an evaluation of the training and activities.

The feasibility of training large numbers of community health advisors as research partners (CHARPs) was evaluated using talking circles data and cancer activity questionnaires and logs. The talking circles data indicated that the CHARPs (n=108) valued their training and believed they learned necessary research partner skills. A review of contacts (n=7,956) provided evidence that CHARPs (n=883) could work as a team to deliver a variety of services over time to the community. The findings suggested that implementing a large scale intervention with CHARPs has the potential to increase the dissemination of cancer information and to reduce cancer disparities.