The Ottawa Citizen Engagement and Action Model (OCEAM): A Citizen engagement Strategy Operationalized Through The Participatory Research in Ottawa, Management and Point-of-care of Tobacco (PROMPT) Study: A Community Based Participatory Action Research Project in Inner City Ottawa

PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: The PROMPT study is a community-based research project designed to understand the factors which affect smoking as well as ways to manage, reduce and quit smoking among people who use drugs in Ottawa. There is strong medical evidence that smoking tobacco is related to more than two dozen diseases and conditions. Smoking tobacco remains the leading cause of preventable death and has negative health impacts on people of all ages. Although Ottawa has one of the lowest smoking rates in Ontario (12 %), major differences exist, with approximately a 96 % smoking rate among those who use drugs in the city of Ottawa. To address this inequity, we recruited and trained four community research peers who were representative of the study target population (ex- or currently homeless, insecurely housed or multi-drug users). We designed the ten-step Ottawa Citizen Engagement and Action Model (OCEAM) for the PROMPT study. In this paper we have described this process in a step-by-step fashion, as used in the PROMPT study. The eighty PROMPT participants are being followed for six months and are being provided with free and off-label Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). ABSTRACT: Objectives The PROMPT study, Participatory Research in Ottawa, Management and Point-of-care of Tobacco, is a prospective cohort study which utilizes community-based participation and social network-based approaches to address tobacco dependence in inner city Ottawa. The project was designed to: facilitate retention of participants; to understand the barriers and facilitators of smoking; optimize ways to manage, reduce, and quit tobacco use among people who use drugs in Ottawa, Canada. The purpose of this paper is to describe the processes utilized in citizen or patient engagement in academic research, through our tobacco dependence management project in the inner city population in Ottawa, Canada. Background Tobacco smoking is inequitably distributed in Canada with rates at 12 % in Ottawa, as compared to 18 % in rest of Canada. However, the PROUD Study (Participatory Research in Ottawa: Understanding Drugs) demonstrated that 96 % of the inner city population, of Ottawa currently smoke tobacco. This distinct inequity in tobacco use translates into inequitable distribution of health outcomes, such morbidity and mortality in this population. Consequently, a community-based participatory, peer-led research project was conducted in the inner city population of Ottawa. Methods We recruited and trained four community research peers who were representative of the study target population. We conceived, designed and operationalized the ten-step Ottawa Citizen Engagement and Action Model (OCEAM) for the PROMPT study. The peers have co-led all aspects of the project from conceptualizing the study question to participating in knowledge translation. Each step of the project had defined objectives and outcome measures. Discussion The involvement of peers in recruitment ensured representation of tobacco and drug users—individuals truly representative of the intended target population. Peer, participant engagement and trust was established from the conception of the project. For historical and self-evident reasons, trust and engagement is rarely found in this population. Peers successfully participated in all ten steps of the Citizen Engagement and Action model. The PROMPT study utilized the CBPR (Community Based Participatory research) approach to encourage engagement and build trust in a difficult to reach and hard to treat, inner city population. The ten-step OCEAM model was conceived, designed and operationalized and the PROMPT study will continue to follow the eighty PROMPT participants for six months to understand the optimal ways to manage, reduce, and quit smoking within an inner city population.