Abstract
This article presents the participation of a client reference group in a qualitative research study which explored clients’ experiences of counselling and natural therapies services in a women’s health centre. The article focuses on the development of working relationships between the reference group and researchers using a capacity building approach which facilitated a two-way exchange of skills, knowledge and experience. This ensured that the views of clients and community members were represented in the research design, thereby increasing its rigour and accountability and fostering social inclusion. Members’ reflections on their journey and the changes they experienced as outcomes of the research process are presented. Ethical issues in working with the reference group are explored. Some members experienced vicarious traumatisation as a result of their exposure to data on domestic violence. This analysis of the use of a reference group and its beneficial impact on research outcomes will be of interest to other researchers looking to work with a client reference or advisory group. Keywords: reference group, client participation, qualitative research, women’s health, vicarious traumatisation.
Highlights
This article presents the participation of a client reference group in a qualitative research study which explored clients’ experiences of counselling and natural therapies services in a women’s health centre
The reference group participated in the development of evaluation forms for the individual services which were based on the categories identified in the data analysis of what the participants valued in individual services, and found effective and useful
In an evaluation session conducted by the external researcher at the completion of the study, members of the reference group spoke of what they had gained through their participation in the research process
Summary
A client and community reference group has much to offer research, research focusing on consumers’ experiences and perspectives. Members of the reference group had first hand knowledge of the services being evaluated in the research and mid to older women’s health and domestic violence. The use of a cofacilitator from the reference group enhanced the data collection process, as previous research has found that research participants feel more at ease in talking about their experiences of services with a peer who has had similar experiences (McKevitt et al, 2009). Once the researchers had completed the initial coding of the data using NVivo to identify categories of clients’ service experiences and relationships between codes, this was presented to the reference group who contributed their views to the coding and interpretation. The reference group participated in the development of evaluation forms for the individual services which were based on the categories identified in the data analysis of what the participants valued in individual services, and found effective and useful
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