Community educators as supporters in ethnographic research

Abstract

The present article describes ethnographic research on the structure and function of bilingual community educators (CEs) as brokers of information involving culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. An important aspect of CE involvement was supporting the chief investigator to engage CALD communities to interpret their understanding of mental health and mental illness, and make appropriate choices about their health care. CEs advised the chief investigator on the appropriate use of language when dealing with mental and emotional health issues so that CALD community people were not isolated from the research process. The author contends that the benefit of CEs in ethnographic research is to help research teams synthesize different viewpoints to shape research questions and create workable solutions in local situations.