Integration of a Participatory Research Strategy into a Rural Health Survey

The Glades Health Survey, a population‐based survey of tuberculosis and HIV infection, provides a model for building community–research partnerships with local health departments in ethnically diverse communities. The survey was initiated without broad community participation; a year and a half of organizing established community leadership of the project. Essential factors in the success of the project included a shared objective, direct confrontation of fears about research, inclusion of all socioeconomic and racial/ethnic groups, and community participation in performing the research. These activities led to establishment of a community‐based organization that received funding for HIV counseling and testing and HIV prevention case management.