Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

This qualitative study employed community-based participatory research (CBPR) to identify the health needs of residents (N=23) living in a low-income neighborhood located in Orlando, Florida. It has previously been found that members of low-income communities often have poorer health than those of wealthier communities (Woolf et al., 2015). Thus, this study aimed to determine the factors impacting the health of community residents, in an effort to create and implement effective solutions. During a preliminary engagement with residents, they identified drug use and sales (or, drug crime) as problems that impact their community’s health. Drug crime not only has lasting impacts on community members in regard to incarceration for such crimes and the increased risk of committing violent crimes, but it is also related to illicit drug use and associated health issues. Through the framework of CBPR, focus groups were conducted with a sample of residents in order to answer this study’s main research question: What are the perceptions of community residents regarding the impact of drug crime on their community’s health?

Methods

Participants (N=23) ranged in age from 19 to 79 years of age (M=41; SD=15.393), were mostly Black/African-American (86.9%) and female (86.9%). A majority of the participants were unemployed (60.8%) and 56.5% had an annual income of $10,000 or less. Recruitment for the current study’s focus groups was originally done during the summer of 2018 at a Back to School event. Further recruitment was done in the Fall of 2018, when hard and electronic copies of the focus group flyers were distributed to residents and local providers. In order to participate in the focus groups, individuals had to be 18 years of age or older and a be a current resident of the community.

Results

Data were collected through six focus groups, which lasted between 30 minutes and one hour. Thematic analysis identified three major themes: 1) community members who use and/or sell drugs contribute to an external negative bias in that all residents are addicts, which contributes to decreased funding and increased police harassment of community residents; 2) the presence of drug crime in the community restricts residents from being physically active out in their community; and, 3) the presence of drug crime in the community contributes to a decrease in the community’s morale, which negatively impacts the motivation on the part of youth to be successful.

Conclusions/Implications

CBPR allowed the voices of residents to be heard in regard to their experiences with drug-crime and its impact on their community’s health. The information gathered from the current study was presented at a community forum that included residents, providers, and city officials to begin the dialogue and creation of solutions to mitigate drug crime in this community.