ICR’s work includes research and programming on a wide range of topics related to social justice, disparities, cultural representation, and community partnerships. Our research addresses health and wellbeing across the age spectrum and uses cutting edge social science and participatory research methodologies. Click on the links below for more information and examples of research and programming in each area of ICR’s work:
Sexual Minority Youth Action Research Project
The Sexual Minority Youth Action Research Project of the Youth Action Research Institute trains lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth of color and their allies to use research as a tool for addressing issues of concern and importance to them, their communities and schools. Teams of Community Youth Researchers conducted research on the availability of and access to support systems for urban, primarily minority, LGBTQ youth in two urban areas of Connecticut.
Coalition Building and Youth Substance Abuse Prevention in West Hartford, CT
ICR's prevention program in West Hartford is a collaboration between the West Hartford Substance Abuse Prevention Commission, Institute for Community Research, West Hartford high school students and school administration, and community members.
Youth Action Research for Prevention
This three-year project built upon 12 years of prior intervention projects that conducted Participatory Action Research for social change and risk prevention, with both youth and adults. The project followed three previously CSAP funded YPAR interventions for substance use prevention, Teen Action Research for Prevention (TARP), Urban women against substance abuse (UWASA), a mother-daughter program and Desarollando el poder dentro de ti, a prevention program to strengthen Puerto Rican families in the context of community substance abuse activities. Youth Action Research for Prevention offered ICR the opportunity to conduct a much needed rigorous evaluation of the process and outcomes of a YPAR program for prevention filling a gap in the YPAR literature.
Youth Rxeaction
This YARI project involved West Hartford teens in investigations of prescription drug misuse in their town.
A Study of the Risks and Resilience of Unstably Housed Youth
This pilot study sought to understand the risks and resilience of unaccompanied unstably housed youth living in small urban areas in Connecticut with high HIV prevalence, and to pilot test an internet-based peer recruitment methodology (webRDS) to reach groups of youth who are not using services.
Resident Engagement Through Action Research for Community and Family Strengthening
Residents from two Hartford neighborhoods used a participatory action research framework to shape their inquiry into what their communities need to thrive.
Resilience Grows Here
Resilience Grows Here is a community-based veteran’s mental health initiative run by the Farmington Valley Health District.
The Sewing Circle Project
The Sewing Circle Project assists newcomer, refugee, and immigrant textile artists to produce and sustain their traditional art forms and share their work and cultural expressions with public audiences.
Violence-Free Zone
As a part of the My Brother's Keeper (MBK) and Viole-Free Zone (VFZ) initiatives, this project aimed to map out assets in the 06210 zip code of Hartford useful in preventing violence. Young researchers worked in this summer intensive to learn basic research methods and present their findings to decision makers.
Supplement to Pathways to High-Risk Drug Abuse Among Urban Youth: Club Drugs
This supplement grant to the study, "Pathways to High-Risk Drug Abuse Among Urban Youth" sought to understand and document the social and cultural contexts of "club" or "designer" drug use, and sex risks associated with the influx of these new drugs among urban youth in Hartford, CT.
VIP: Vaccinate for Influenza Prevention
The purpose of this intervention study V.I.P.: Vaccinate for Influenza Prevention was to improve influenza vaccination rates among older, low-income, and minority adults who live independently in senior housing facilities in Hartford, CT. Nationally, this group has the highest risk for influenza, yet the lowest vaccination rates. The study utilized an empowerment model to build a residential public health committee that was trained in the benefits of flu vaccine. Facilitated by project staff, the committee received interactive flu education, conducted a two-month long flu campaign, and organized flu vaccination clinics. A pre-post evaluation in one intervention and one matched comparison building compared changes in knowledge, attitudes and rates of vaccine uptake among building residents.
Vaccinate for Influenza Prevention (VIP) Pilot Study
The purpose of Project V.I.P. was to develop materials and approaches for an intervention study designed to increase flu vaccination rates among low-income, ethnically diverse older adults living independently in senior housing in Hartford, CT. The study assessed a theory-driven, peer-led intervention to identify and remove barriers to influenza vaccination and evaluated the utility of a pre-post survey.