Authentic Community Research Articles

Insights into the career development of non-religious teachers in post-primary religious schools on the island of Ireland

ABSTRACT This article investigates the lived experiences of non-religious teachers in post-primary schools with religious cultures on the island of Ireland, particularly with regard to career development and promotion. At the time of the research, both jurisdictions on the island had legal exceptions from equality employment law in schools. Based on 15 interviews with non-religious teachers and with reference to literature on school ethos, teacher beliefs and agency, we investigate how the professional experience of teachers is shaped by the religious environment. The predominant response of non-religious teachers in religious schools is to hide or suppress their worldview. There is evidence too that their relationships with colleagues and pupils are inhibited when the religious culture discourages openness and diversity. Overall, they have modest expectations for career development or promotion. We conclude that legislative change is an important corrective to reduce religious discrimination, but it is only part of the solution. Active steps should also be taken by schools in Ireland and Northern Ireland to cultivate an inclusive spirit in which the school is regarded as an ‘authentic community’ where difference is normalised and all teachers are empowered to have full participation in the life of the school.

Moving from Principle to Practice: A Researcher's Guide to Co-Leading Engaged Research with Community Partners and Patients with Lived Experience to Reduce Maternal Mortality and Morbidity for Maternal Sepsis.

Maternal mortality and morbidity disproportionately affect birthing people from racialized populations. Unfortunately, researchers can often compound these poor outcomes through a lack of authentic community engagement in research beyond the role of the research subject, leading to ineffective strategies for improving care and increasing equity. This article details the real-life strategies utilized to develop a community-engaged research project of a phased federally funded grant employing community engagement principles of co-leadership and co-creation. It also includes reflections from the researchers and advisory board on promising practices and lessons learned for equitably engaging patients and community partners in research. This article details the application of principles of community-engaged research in a federally funded phased research project focused on understanding disparities in maternal sepsis to develop better clinical and community interventions. Specifically, it discusses early steps in the research partnership to create a sustainable partnership with a Community Leadership Board guided by the principles of transparency, respect, compensation, and increasing research justice. Based on the authors' experience, recommendations are provided for funders, researchers, and institutions to improve the quality and outcomes of communityengaged research. This work adds to community-based participatory and community-engaged research literature by providing concrete and practical steps for equitably engaging in research partnerships with a variety of collaborators. In conclusion, integrated patient and community co-leadership enhances research by providing insight, access to communities for education and dissemination of information, and identifying critical areas needing change. This report may help others address fundamental principles in this journey.

Proposing the Community Triad Model to action social accountability in medical schools

This article is the third in a series exploring drivers of social accountability (SA) in medical schools across Canada. Findings from the two previous articles have highlighted a central relationship between community, students, and faculty at medical schools, and led to the emergence of a new social accountability model– the Community Triad Model (CTM). The CTM proposes an interconnectedness between community, students, faculty, and the broader institution, and the pathways through which community-based learning directly and indirectly influences decision-making in medical institutions. This article explores the relationships between the three arms of the CTM by examining the literature on community engagement and SA, as well as by revisiting popular models and foundational SA reports to garner insights into authentic community engagement in health professions education. While there is an abundance of literature demonstrating the impact of community placements on students, there are limited studies describing the influence of communities on faculty and the broader institution either directly, or indirectly via students. The authors recommend that institutions be more intentional in engaging students and faculty, and learn from their experiences with community to shape curriculum, practices, policies, and culture of the broader institution. This study offers an operational model of SA that is easy to adopt and implement. It intends to demonstrate how the components of the triad (students, faculty/leadership, community) function together in the community engagement and social accountability of medical schools.

Walking together in friendship: Learning about cultural safety in mainstream mental health services through Aboriginal Participatory Action Research.

Culturally safe service provision is essential to improving social and emotional wellbeing among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and to eliminating health inequities. Cultural safety is about ensuring that all people have a safe and healing journey through services, regardless of their cultural background. In this project, we aim to (1) understand how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples conceptualise cultural safety, and (2) co-design a qualitative interview for the next phase of this project, where we plan to learn about experiences of cultural safety within mental health services. We conducted six focus groups (in one metro and two regional areas, Western Australia). Following an Aboriginal Participatory Action Research methodology, we yarned with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health service users, carers, community members, mental health professionals and Cultural Healers about cultural safety. Participants described a culturally safe service as one where Aboriginal cultural knowledges, life experiences, issues and protocols are understood and acknowledged, and reported that mainstream mental health services are not currently culturally safe. Participants emphasised the importance of building trust, rapport, reciprocity and following appropriate relational processes when designing a qualitative interview for the next phase. A lack of cultural safety in mental health services is likely to contribute to the disparity in outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians. Embedding cultural safety into research design allows for authentic community engagement and facilitates knowledge sharing around ways to improve cultural safety in mental health services.

Ethical Frameworks and Global Health: A Narrative Review of the "Leave No One Behind" Principle.

The "Leave No One Behind" (LNOB) principle, a fundamental commitment of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, emphasizes the urgent need to address and reduce global health inequalities. As global health initiatives strive to uphold this principle, they face significant ethical challenges in balancing equity, resource allocation, and diverse health priorities. This narrative review critically examines these ethical dilemmas and their implications for translating LNOB into actionable global health strategies. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Semantic Scholar, covering publications from January 1990 to April 2024. The review included peer-reviewed articles, gray literature, and official reports that addressed the ethical dimensions of LNOB in global health contexts. A thematic analysis was employed to identify and synthesize recurring ethical issues, dilemmas, and proposed solutions. The thematic analysis identified 4 primary ethical tensions that complicate the operationalization of LNOB: (1) Universalism versus Targeting, where the challenge lies in balancing broad health improvements with targeted interventions for the most disadvantaged; (2) Resource Scarcity versus Equity; highlighting the ethical conflicts between maximizing efficiency and ensuring fairness; (3) Top-down versus Bottom-up Approaches, reflecting the tension between externally driven initiatives and local community needs; and (4) Short-term versus Long-term Sustainability, addressing the balance between immediate health interventions and sustainable systemic changes. To navigate these ethical challenges effectively, global health strategies must adopt a nuanced, context-sensitive approach incorporating structured decision-making processes and authentic community participation. The review advocates for systemic reforms that address the root causes of health disparities, promote equitable collaboration between health practitioners and marginalized communities, and align global health interventions with ethical imperatives. Such an approach is essential to truly operationalize the LNOB principle and foster sustainable health equity.

Community resilience building in disadvantaged neighbourhoods (DN): action learning and political work

ABSTRACT Old, often neglected downtown neighborhoods are usually the salt of the city, the center of its original culture, and the area of an authentic community anchored in traditional values as: an ethos of work, loyalty, multi-generational family, independence. In the process of city regeneration, instead of making urban space more attractive, such neighborhoods are treated as an obstacle and therefore subjected to various forms of oppression (spatial, political, discursive). On the basis of those negative diagnoses, a project of participatory action and learning has been constructed, the goal of which is individual and structural empowerment of disadvantaged neighborhoods (communities) as well as action learning opportunities for social work/social pedagogy students. The locality development makes communities more effective in resisting the oppression of large municipal investments. The plan assumed a joint action (academics, practitioners, students, city officers, inhabitants) of rebuilding the historical and social pride of the communities and then including them as active and important elements of the city also in terms of the labor market and political power. Other important goals were a participatory model of social work education (field-based research learning) and an increase in social recognition of disadvantaged neighborhoods (political result).

David Myatt’s Imagined Emotionology, his Striving for Authentic Aryan Emotional Communities, and the Dishonourable Wulstan Tedder

During the 1980s and 1990s David Myatt, a British neo-Nazi ideologue, was involved in attempts to establish Aryan enclaves; Myatt’s enclave vision imagined a space secluded from the inauthenticity of liberal multicultural modernity where an Aryan folk community could live authentically in accordance with his National-Socialist ideology. This ideology was founded on a cosmology which inextricably interlinked Aryans, the landscape, and the cosmos in a symbiotic relationship. Myatt therefore envisaged rural enclaves established in harmony with Nature, where Aryans could live authentic lives in an authentic community, founded on an imagined emotionology that centred the Aryan virtues of honour, loyalty, and duty. Myatt’s legitimacy as an ideologue was largely formed by his vigorous personal adherence to this concept of authentic Aryanism, but this authenticity and legitimacy was tested by Myatt’s deliberate tactics of obscuration.

Embracing Life: Gustav Landauer’s Anarchism as Rejection of Death

This paper examines Gustav Landauer’s mystical anarchism, focusing on the concept of overcoming death as a core element of his thought. It explores Landauer’s rejection of death as both a linguistic superstition and a limited worldview, emphasizing the collective whole over individualism. The essay suggests that Landauer’s representation of revolution moving from space to time includes his account of mystical anarchy, which fosters a deep connection with the past and a sense of unity with the world and humanity. This shift in perspective promotes a more fulfilling and meaningful existence within a larger, authentic community that is an antidote to the constraints of death.

Abstract A032: Collaborative work groups – authentic community collaboration to reduce Wisconsin’s breast and lung cancer disparities

Abstract Authentic community collaboration creates space for a deeper understanding between researchers and community partners and is critical to solving cancer disparities. Collaborative Work Groups (CWG), a program of the Community Cancer Science Network (CCSN) at the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center, brings researchers and community partners in collaboration to address breast and lung cancer disparities statewide using a transdisciplinary approach to understand cancer disparities and create solutions that are grounded in three principles: deep equity, systems thinking, and an integration of biology-to-policy perspectives. CWGs have been actively engaged since the Spring of 2022 in several Wisconsin communities working to uncover the complex factors that drive breast and lung cancer disparities at the local level. Guided by a human-centered design process, the groups are defining the local scope of the problem, integrating diverse perspectives into root cause analyses, and designing solutions that will target the disparities. As part of data gathering to inform community level priorities, three CWGs collaborated to host a World Café event, a methodology for facilitating a large group dialogue, focused on breast cancer disparities. The CWGs invited community members, breast cancer survivors and co-survivors, health care providers, allied health professionals, and breast cancer advocacy organizations from three different counties to attend. Approximately 80 attendees gathered at small tables centered around various topics associated with breast cancer disparities including mammography access and process, social factors, co-morbidities, screening, insurance, and treatment. At each table, attendees discussed the topic and recorded their thoughts on a large notepad, and after 20 minutes switched to a different topic table and added on to previous contributions. Following the three rounds, a representative of each table reported the findings to the entire group. A graphic recorder captured the discussion, table notes were preserved, and attendees provided feedback on the meeting. Open coding validated the graphic recorder. Results of the World Café provided CWGs with data on community priorities. The meeting demonstrated two key values of the CWG: reliance on transdisciplinary relationships to nurture collaboration and the prioritization of building capacity with the community to lead local efforts to improve health outcomes. This dynamic was exemplified as staff of local community organizations were involved at every level of the event, including conceptualization, planning, facilitation, and evaluation. A World Café event is an effective methodology for collecting robust data on solutions for multi-county efforts. CWGs can contribute to eliminating cancer disparities in communities through a human centered design process that integrates diverse sectors with knowledge of biology, behavior, and the socio-cultural and physical environments, and creates an equitable voice for all participants to contribute to designing viable solutions. Citation Format: Staci Young, David Frazer, Tim Meister, Tobi Cawthra, Laura Pinsoneault, Jada Proctor, Kailey Taebel, Felicia Fairfield, Claire Piehowski, Melinda Stolley. Collaborative work groups – authentic community collaboration to reduce Wisconsin’s breast and lung cancer disparities [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr A032.

DARIAH-HR digital tools in the frame of Open Science

Responsibility, ethics, inclusiveness, and the principles of Open Science are central to the advancement of scholarly research and publishing. By embracing these values, we can create a more transparent, collaborative, and accessible research ecosystem, as proposed by UNESCO (2022). However, there is a pressing need for effective tools that aid researchers in practising Open Science while addressing the specific requirements of disciplines such as the Humanities and Arts, especially in the context of the welldocumented prevalence of STEM disciplines over the Humanities in the development of Open Science and Open Access trends (Eve, 2014). The Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities (DARIAH-EU) consortium, formed by "researchers for researchers", is uniquely positioned to address this inequality while driving the development of an open ecosystem that naturally evolves from authentic community practices and needs (Tóth-Czifra, 2021). Croatia as a member country with its DARIAH-HR coordination office readily follows it in this endeavour by organising workshops, creating one-of-a-kind digital platforms and tools, etc.In this poster presentation we aim to introduce several digital tools designed or codesigned by DARIAH-HR for scholars in the fields of the Humanities and Arts (and broader): 1) a digital tool for the creation of thesauri, 2) a digital tool for creating registers, 3) a digital tool for generating GDPR-compliant forms for obtaining consent from data subjects and 4) a software for modelling, processing and representation of monumental heritage and culture of memory. While the first and second tools represent pioneering efforts to encompass the widest community of humanists and researchers in Croatia, the third and fourth tools provide in-depth solutions in their respective areas of focus, extending their reach to an international level and catering to a diverse audience that includes researchers as well as tourists.The digital thesaurus creation tool “tezaurus.hr” is designed to streamline the process of developing structured vocabularies relevant to the Humanities and Arts. The digital register development tool “DH Register” provides a user-friendly interface (currently in development) that enables researchers to create and curate registries, incorporating metadata standards while adhering to the requirements of the FAIR principles (as recommended in, e.g., Hahnel & Valen, 2020). The “Consent Form Wizard” (CFW) is a tool developed by the DARIAH-EU working group Ethics and Legality in Digital Arts and Humanities (ELDAH) to support humanities researchers within the European Union in obtaining valid consent for data processing in the context of their specific professional activity. “Monument Heritage Map” is a digital platform that allows the implementation of available data and methods for data collection, processing, multimodal visualisation and mapping of cultural monuments.When integrated into an Open Science framework, these tools provide researchers with efficient means to enhance knowledge organisation, resource sharing, and collaboration while upholding responsible research practices and promoting inclusivity within the academic community. Enabling researchers to create user-friendly thesauri and registers also facilitates the discoverability, interoperability, and accessibility of research outputs. Conclusively, it contributes to the development of a robust and interconnected research infrastructure.Through the presentation of these digital tools and their implications, this poster seeks to contribute to the discourse surrounding responsible and inclusive research in the context of the Humanities and Arts. It emphasises the significance of training, education, and capacity building for Open Science.

Design and Implementation of the Diabetes Impact Project: A Multisector Partnership to Reduce Diabetes Burden in Indianapolis Communities.

Community-level health disparities have not arisen suddenly but are the result of long-term systemic inequities. This article describes the design and implementation of a community-engaged multisector partnership to address health disparities by reducing the diabetes burden in 3 Indianapolis communities through the implementation of evidence-based strategies across the prevention continuum. The project has 5 foundational design principles: engage partners from multiple sectors to address community health, focus on geographic communities most affected by the health disparity, practice authentic community engagement, commit for the long term, and utilize a holistic approach spanning the prevention continuum. The design principles are incorporated into the following project components in each community: (1) health system community health workers (hCHWs), (2) neighborhood CHWs (nCHWs), (3) community health promotion initiatives, and (4) resident steering committees, as well as a backbone organization responsible for overall coordination, project communication, evaluation, and partnership coordination. This complex multilevel intervention is being evaluated using data sources and methodologies suited to each project component and its purpose overall. Each component is being evaluated independently and included holistically to measure the impact of the project on the health and culture of health in the communities. Key Performance Indicators were established upon project initiation as our common metrics for the partnership. Because complex interventions aiming at population-level change take time, we evaluate Diabetes Impact Project-Indianapolis Neighborhoods (DIP-IN), assuming its impact will take many years to achieve. Health disparities such as the diabetes prevalence in project communities have not arisen suddenly but are the result of long-term systemic inequities. This complex issue requires a complex holistic solution with long-term commitment, trusted partnerships, and investment from diverse sectors as seen in this project. Implications for policy and practice include the need to identify stable funding mechanisms to support these types of holistic approaches.

Navigating Liminal Spaces in University-Community Engagement: Risky Collaboration in Times of Crisis

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced P–12 schools to temporarily transition to online learning, it exacerbated the already deep-seated educational inequities in communities across the United States. Employing a grounded theory approach, this paper explores how educators and community stakeholders created a free full-time volunteer-led K–2 learning pod for historically underserved students. The authors discuss the opportunities and challenges experienced in the pod’s implementation, as well as lessons for these types of university-community partnerships. The findings of the study reveal the potential of equity-focused collaborations that accept risk, occupy uncomfortable liminal spaces, and leverage informal networks and relationships to build trusting and authentic community partnerships. The paper concludes with a call to reimagine the parameters of university-community engagement in times of crisis.

Youth Science Learning as/for Community Participation: Examples from Youth Participatory Action Research

Youth development programs often provide young people with science learning experiences. We argue for reframing youth science learning from a focus on individual scientific literacy to an emphasis on collective scientific literacy—community science—to support young people in using science to address issues in their lives and communities. We provide examples from youth participatory action research (YPAR), one community science pedagogical approach. The YPAR model supports youth in deciding upon an environmental, economic, or social issue; designing and implementing research; and using their research findings to improve their community. We implemented YPAR with eight cohorts of youth over three years at five schools in Northern California. Using data generated from educator interviews and youth focus groups and analyzed with inductive thematic analysis, we explored what youth and educators reported about science engagement and learning. While YPAR projects offered opportunities for youth to strengthen scientific literacy, youth did not join a YPAR program because it was science education. Instead, as youth selected a personally meaningful topic, they began to see how they might affect community change. Engaging learners in relevant educational experiences situated in authentic community issues may improve motivation for deeper and sustained participation in science learning. Our YPAR example demonstrated an approach to learning STEM in youth development programs by ensuring relevancy and connection to community.

Importance of Community Engagement in Data Decision Making.

Importance of Community Engagement in Data Decision Making.

A Population Health Impact Pyramid for Health Care.

Policy Points To meaningfully impact population health and health equity, health care organizations must take a multipronged approach that ranges from education to advocacy, recognizing that more impactful efforts are often more complex or resource intensive. Given that population health is advanced in communities and not doctors' offices, health care organizations must use their advocacy voices in service of population health policy, not just health care policy. Foundational to all population health and health equity efforts are authentic community partnerships and a commitment to demonstrating health care organizations are worthy of their communities' trust.

The Invest in Youth Long Beach Coalition

Problem, strategy, and findings Broader power imbalances across race, class, and age hamper anti-racism in planning. Here, we show how the youth of color–led Invest in Youth Coalition in Long Beach (CA; IIY-LB) pushed the city to implement co-production and youth co-governance in budget planning, strategic planning, and city program development. We drew from participant observation, semistructured interviews, and secondary sources to highlight youth organizing (YO) strategies, including leadership development, political education, electoral organizing, and storytelling. Youth leaders redefined budgetary agendas through participatory research and other strategies that highlighted disinvestment in, and criminalization of, youth and communities of color. They successfully won city attention and resources for positive youth development. Building on partnerships cultivated with the city, IIY-LB also secured more equitable representation and decision-making power of low-income queer youth and youth of color in strategic planning processes. The coalition amassed and flexed electoral power of systemically disenfranchized communities, winning a local ballot measure to secure and fund an Office of Youth Development. Finally, IIY-LB has collaborated with the city to enact youth co-governance in the office’s implementation. This case study advances co-production and youth engagement literatures by illuminating specific YO strategies to achieve elusive models of authentic community collaboration and co-governance. Takeaway for practice IIY-LB shows how planners can concretely share power with youth and communities of color, especially YO groups, at all stages of planning. Funders and planners can divert resources directly to youth and community organizing groups, whether via multiyear, unrestricted grants or directly resourcing YO groups to lead capacity building. Planners should build longer, more flexible timelines and collaborative spaces to support substantive youth decision making. Planning educators can support promote service learning and internships with YO groups to develop planners’ understanding of organizing.

Neutrophils and their friends.

Neutrophils and their friends.

Using Collective Impact to Advance Birth Equity: A Comparison of Two Cross-Sector Efforts in California.

Preterm birth, defined as birth at gestational age before 37 weeks, is a major public health concern with marked racial disparities driven by underlying structural and social determinants of health. To achieve population-level reductions in preterm birth and to reduce racial inequities, the University of California, San Francisco's California Preterm Birth Initiative catalyzed two cross-sector coalitions in San Francisco and Fresno using the Collective Impact (CI) approach. The purpose of this study is to compare two preterm birth-focused CI efforts and identify common themes and lessons learned. Researchers conducted in-depth interviews (n = 19) and three focus groups (n = 20) with stakeholders to assess factors related to collaboration. Transcripts were coded and analyzed using modified grounded theory. Findings were compared by year of data collection (first and second cycle in each location) and geographic location (Fresno and San Francisco) and discussed with CI participants for input. Although both communities adopted the core tenets of CI to address preterm birth and racial inequities, each employed distinct organizational structures, strategic frameworks, and interventions. Common themes emerged around the importance of authentic community engagement, transparency in the process of prioritization and decision-making, addressing racism as a root cause of disparities in birth outcomes, and candid communication among partners. Future CI efforts, particularly those catalyzed by academic institutions, should ensure community members are active partners in program development and decision-making. CI efforts focused on combatting racial health inequities should center racism as a root cause and build capacity among coalition partners.

Just Research: Advancing Antiracist and Antioppressive Social Work Research.

The Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) created its Research Capacity and Development Committee in 2017 to build research capacity across the careers of social work scholars. The committee has initiated multiple conferences and webinar sessions that have increasingly focused on antiracist and antioppressive (ARAO) research, including "Mentorship for Antiracist and Inclusive Research" and "Strategies for Supporting Antiracist Pedagogy & Scholarship: Reimagining Institutional Systems & Structures." This commentary integrates themes from these sessions and other discussions among committee members about strategies to advance ARAO research. Although SSWR board members reviewed and approved this submission, it is not an official statement of SSWR or its board of directors.

Providing Public Engagement Training to Build Connections Between the Community and Research Ethics Professionals: A Pilot Project.

There is growing interest for research ethics professionals to engage with members of the public, yet they often lack the training needed to engage effectively. The STEM Ambassador Program provides a promising framework for training research ethics professionals to form authentic community connections and carry out effective engagement activities based on shared interests and values. The experiences of ten research administrators who participated in a pilot of the STEM Ambassador training for research ethics professionals are presented. Post-training surveys of the research administrators indicate that they valued the training and the skills obtained, and intend to continue with public engagement activities with support of their leadership.