Collaborative methodologies for advancing the health of underserved women

Collaborative methodologies that incorporate local community members offer a unique approach to conducting women's health research. These approaches actively seek to mobilize community resources to solve healthcare problems and may be effectively implemented, accepted, and sustained. Understanding differences among collaborative methodologies is needed to assist the researcher in selecting the strategy that is most consistent with the study purpose and setting. The purpose of this article is to discuss the processes involved in these methodologies and the role of the researcher and the research community and compare how these methodologies differ in identifying and evaluating healthcare outcomes for underserved women.