Community Participatory Action Research Research Articles

The RESPCCT Study: Community-led Development of a Person-Centered Instrument to Measure Health Equity in Perinatal Services

The RESPCCT Study: Community-led Development of a Person-Centered Instrument to Measure Health Equity in Perinatal Services

More Is Required of Us: Complicating an Ontology of Experience at the Heart of Community-Based Research

More Is Required of Us: Complicating an Ontology of Experience at the Heart of Community-Based Research

Inclusive Community Aquatics Programming for Children with Developmental Challenges: A Community Participatory Action Research.

Children who are neurodiverse have traditionally been segregated from their peers in community-based programs, despite evidence of health benefits of inclusive education. This community-initiated project aims to explore barriers and facilitators to inclusive aquatics programming for children with developmental and/or mental health challenges. Using a participatory-action research methodology, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with 14 participants from various stakeholder groups, including parents of children who are neurodiverse, helping professionals, and community programmers. Participants described unique definitions of inclusion, from integration with neurotypical peers, to individualized goal-setting and achievement. Major facilitators include adequate resources, flexibility around accommodations, and motivated staff. Major barriers include social stigma, financial limitations, and lack of communication between caregivers and service providers. Participants felt strongly about the need to improve inclusion practices within aquatics-and other community-based-programs. Increased collaboration between families, community programmers, and helping professionals can foster better inclusion and outcomes for children who are neurodiverse. By incorporating various perspectives into the design of future programs, program administrators can ensure more equitable access such that all children are able to participate.

Inclusive Community Aquatics Programming for Children with Developmental Challenges: A Community Participatory Action Research.

Inclusive Community Aquatics Programming for Children with Developmental Challenges:A Community Participatory Action Research Minnie Teng, BSc, MScOT, Kathy Xie, BSc, Julie Engleson, Kanachi Angadi, Anita Wong, BA, Michael Lee, MBA, PDOT, and Tal Jarus, MA(OT), PhD (OT) What Is the Purpose of this Study/Review? • The purpose of this participatory action research study was to explore facilitators and barriers to inclusive community aquatics programs for children with developmental/mental health challenges and their families. • We sought to produce a framework that delineates barriers and facilitators to inclusive community programs for children with developmental/mental health challenges and their families. What Is the Problem? • Studies in education have repeatedly shown that inclusive education improves childhood experience and life trajectory; however, little is known about inclusion in community programs. • Parents with children with mental health/developmental challenges as well as a local nonprofit partnered with an academic institution to investigate factors that prevent or enhance inclusion for community aquatics programs. What Are the Findings? • Inclusion is a concept that does not share a universal meaning. • Major facilitators to inclusion in community settings include adequate resources, flexibility around accommodations, and motivated staff. • Major barriers to inclusion in community settings include social stigma, financial limitations, and lack of communication between caregivers and service providers. Who Should Care Most? • People with developmental/mental health challenges. • Community program leaders. • Parents. • Health care professionals. • Public Health professionals. • Nonprofit organizations working with people with developmental/mental health challenges [End Page e5] Recommendations for Action • Participants felt strongly about the need to improve inclusion practices within aquatic and other community-based programs. • Having an open communication channel among families, community programmers, and helping professionals can set expectations early and improve outcomes for neurodiverse children and their families. • Devoting resources to ensure more staff have adequate training to work with neurodiverse children will improve inclusion in community settings. • Public health efforts to promote inclusion in community programs and destigmatize mental illness and developmental disabilities in community settings can improve understanding and awareness of different abilities for the general public and community program participants. [End Page e6] Minnie Teng Aquafit for All Association, University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine Kathy Xie University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine Julie Engleson Parent of child with developmental challenges Kanachi Angadi Parent of child with developmental challenges Anita Wong Aquafit for All Association Michael Lee University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy Tal Jarus University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy Copyright © 2023 Johns Hopkins University Press

Dissonance, Disagreement, Difference: Challenging Thematic Consensus to Decolonise Grounded Theory

Over the past two decades researchers have been exploring new hybrid methodologies to decolonise Indigenous mental health research. Grounded Theory with Community Participatory Action Research (CPAR), often using Indigenist methods, is the most common. Grounded Theory’s claim to rigour is its transparent, organised process of sifting and theme finding, while CPAR respects Indigenous self-determination and Indigenous ways of knowing doing and being, involving Indigenous research participants in all stages of the research from data collection to analysis. On the surface it would seem to be the ideal methodological approach to navigate the cultural divide. However, this article will argue that Grounded Theory’s inherent weakness is in the process of thematic analysis, which uses consensus during the analysis phase to find dominant themes. Drawing on the social systems theory of Niklas Luhmann and the political theory of Chantal Mouffe, this article will argue for a group process of “agonistic pluralism” instead. Searching for shared truths has a tendency to smooth out differences. The article proposes an approach for configuring a research team and conducting team analysis that struggles with, and accounts for, dissonances, disagreements and differences. Furthermore, it argues these differences should be recorded as important findings along with agreed themes. The approach has been developed to explore community perspectives on the relationship between culture and health, and in turn, to develop culturally appropriate mental health therapies for First Nations young people within a Western paediatric hospital.

Using participatory action research to reimagine community mental health services in Colombia: a mixed-method study protocol

IntroductionMental healthcare systems are challenged by how they hear and respond to what marginalised communities experience as drivers of mental distress. In Colombia, this challenge intersects with wider challenges facing...

Effects of the Developing and Using a Model to Predict Dengue Risk Villages Based on Subdistrict Administrative Organization in Southern Thailand.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of developing and using a model to predict dengue risk in villages and of a larval indices surveillance system for 2372 households in 10 Thai villages. A community participatory action research method was used in five steps: (1) community preparation covering all stakeholders, (2) assessment of the understanding of a dengue solution and a larval indices surveillance system, (3) development of a prediction and intervention model for dengue risk villages, (4) implementation of the model that responds to all stakeholders, and (5) evaluation of the effects of using the model. The questionnaires to assess and evaluate were validated and reliability tested. The chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were used to analyze the quantitative data collected by means of questionnaires. Thematic analysis was applied to the qualitative data collected through interviews. The results found that the model consisted of six main activities, including (1) setting team leader responsibility, (2) situation assessment, (3) prediction of the dengue risk in villages, (4) the six steps of the larval indices surveillance system, (5) the understanding of the dengue solution and the understanding of the larval indices surveillance system training program, and (6) local wisdom innovation. The effects of using the model showed a statistically significant increase in correct understanding among 932 family leaders, 109 village health volunteers, and 59 student leaders regarding dengue prevention and control (p < 0.05). The larval indices and dengue morbidity were diminished and related to the nine themes present in the community leaders’ reflections and to the satisfaction of the community members. Hence, local administrative organizations should use community-based approaches as the subdistrict dengue solution innovation to reduce the dengue problem.

"Weaving a Mat That We Can All Sit On": Qualitative Research Approaches for Productive Dialogue in the Intercultural Space.

Research remains a site of struggle for First Nations peoples globally. Biomedical research often reinforces existing power structures, perpetuating ongoing colonisation by dominating research priorities, resource allocation, policies, and services. Addressing systemic health inequities requires decolonising methodologies to facilitate new understandings and approaches. These methodologies promote a creative tension and productive intercultural dialogue between First Nations and Western epistemologies. Concurrently, the potential of critical theory, social science, and community participatory action research approaches to effectively prioritise First Nations peoples’ lived experience within the biomedical worldview is increasingly recognised. This article describes learnings regarding research methods that enable a better understanding of the lived experience of rheumatic heart disease—an intractable, potent marker of health inequity for First Nations Australians, requiring long-term engagement in the troubled intersection between Indigenist and biomedical worldviews. Working with Yolŋu (Aboriginal) co-researchers from remote Northern Territory (Australia), the concept of ganma (turbulent co-mingling of salt and fresh water) was foundational for understanding and applying relationality (gurrutu), deep listening (nhina, nhäma ga ŋäma), and the use of metaphors—approaches that strengthen productive dialogue, described by Yolŋu co-researchers as weaving a ‘mat we can all sit on’. The research results are reported in a subsequent article.

A participatory action research on the care for water and life on Earth: a case study of interreligious and intercultural engagements in the time of the pandemic in Thailand

This article presented a report on an ongoing research project that integrates culture, religion and the environment. Dialectically, the Bible guides this study in the same way that this project responded to the water crisis and the environmental realities obtaining in the real world today. The paper problematizes the lack of direct citizen action on the burning issue of caring for water and life on Earth. Specifically, this article presented a case study in Thailand that deals with a community participatory action research that involves environmental advocacy in the classroom at the university level on the one hand and environmental care through a planting project with the local intercultural and interreligious community on the other hand. The pandemic determines the ebb and flow of the progress of the project, including its sustainability.

Developing Risk Assessment Criteria and Predicting High- and Low-Dengue Risk Villages for Strengthening Dengue Prevention Activities: Community Participatory Action Research, Thailand.

Background:Risk assessment criteria for predicting dengue outbreak must be appropriated at village levels. We aimed to develop risk dengue village prediction criteria, predict village dengue risk, and strengthen dengue prevention based on community participation.Methods:This participatory research conducted in Southern Thailand included the following 5 phases: (i) preparing communities in 3 districts; (ii) developing risk dengue village prediction criteria; (iii) applying computer program; (iv) predicting village dengue risk with 75 public health providers in 39 PCUs; and (v) utilizing findings to strengthen dengue prevention activities in 220 villages. Data collecting for prediction used secondary data from primary care units in the past 5 year and current year. Descriptive statistics used calculating criteria and comparing with standard level to adjust score of risk.Results:Risk dengue village assessment criteria had 2 aspects: dengue severity (3 factors) and dengue outbreak opportunity (3 factors). Total scores were 33 points and cut-off of 17 points for high and low dengue risks villages. All criteria were applied using computer program (http://surat.denguelim.com). Risk prediction involved stakeholder participation in 220 villages, and used for strengthening dengue prevention activities. The concept of integrated vector management included larval indices surveillance system, garbage management, larval indices level lower than the standard, community capacity activities for dengue prevention, and school-based dengue prevention. The risk prediction criteria and process mobilized villages for dengue prevention activities to decrease morbidity rate.Conclusion:Dengue risk assessment criteria were appropriated within the village, with its smallest unit, the household, included. The data can be utilized at village levels for evaluating dengue outbreak risks.

Developing and using a dengue patient care guideline for patients admitted from households to primary care units and the district hospital: A community participatory approach in Southern Thailand

BackgroundDengue has been an important health issue in southern Thailand. However, this area has only a surveillance-prevention system, without step-by-step guidelines on dengue treatment for patients admitted from households to primary care units (PCUs) and district hospitals. Therefore, this study were to develop and use a dengue patient care guideline (DPCG), and to evaluate knowledge, attitude, practice (KAP) of dengue patient care. Methods26 health care providers (13 nurses, and 13 public health officials) from eight PCUs and the district hospital developed the DPCG. The study design was based on the community participatory action research that integrated the Iowa model involving the following steps: preparation, guideline development, use and monitoring, evaluation and conclusion, and referring technology. We assessed the improvement between before and after using the DPCG regarding the participants' KAP on patient care and preparedness of equipment. McNamara's test was used to compare the changing results before and after using the DPCG. Qualitative data collection was performed in two meeting discussions with six open-end items. Using a thematic analysis technique, we extracted conclusions and suggested solutions. ResultsThe guideline included four steps for patients' care provision at households, PCUs, outpatient departments, emergency rooms, and inpatient departments. After using the DPCG in 39 dengue patients of which 30 patients were admitted to the inpatient department1 and two patients were referred to the tertiary care hospital without mortality. The overall participants' knowledge and attitude, two of six aspects of patients' care, and three of eight types of equipment management were significantly improved (p < 0.05). Eleven themes were evaluated which were associated with the quantitative data. ConclusionThe DPCG instructed dengue patient's care for health care providers from households to the PCUs and district hospital. All participants improved KAP, and equipment management. Step-by-step of DPCG use and participation of all stakeholders are needed.

Fostering Family Resilience: A Community Participatory Action Research Perspective

ABSTRACT Theoretically, increasing family resilience, may contribute to an increase the resilience of communities. However families in South Africa experience challenges to their resilience, often owing to a variety of historic, socio-economic, and political factors. Research and intervention planning that attempts to ameliorate the effects these factors, especially upon families who live within disenfranchised communities, should begin with a consideration of the relationships between researcher and community stakeholders. The aim of this paper is to discuss lessons learned during the process of intervention development in which the whole community (should they choose to) can participate. The Family Resilience Strengthening Programme is an intervention that was developed with the aim of strengthening family resilience processes using a participatory action research approach (PAR). Participants of this project were from a small, rural community from the West Coast of South Africa. We argue that PAR can be used to foster family resilience and, in so doing, can mobilise communities and their resources to increase community resilience. Key lessons learned during this project is discussed and addresses aspects important in community engagement such as the quality of communication and a unifying of different stakeholder community groups. Moreover, we encourage researchers and practitioners engage with the value that communities contribute to research and intervention planning, and the need to maintain, and further develop, those relationships both throughout and after the research process.

A Community-Based Participatory Approach to Understanding HIV/AIDS in the Ethiopian Community

ABSTRACTThe rate of HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C remains at epidemic levels and is most prevalent in the black community, with foreign-born blacks accounting for an increasing proportion of HIV infections in the Washington DC area. The Ethiopian community is among the subgroups that are especially impacted by HIV/AIDS. Yet, seldom does research on the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS break data into diverse subgroups, accounting for the distinct needs based on cultural or ethnic differences. This paper reports on the qualitative findings from a community participatory action research study that involved interviewing 60 Ethiopian-immigrants and nine community-based providers about their attitudes toward HIV/AIDS, and to elicit their ideas about how to improve HIV/AIDS prevention, promotion, and treatment approaches targeting the Ethiopian community. Findings show that stigma remains the largest barrier to accessing HIV/AIDS treatment among Ethiopians in the Washington, D.C. area. Therefore, strategies to reduce HIV/AIDS must address stigmatizing beliefs and be met with cultural sensitivity when developing community prevention and treatment outreach programs designed to reduce HIV/AIDS among Ethiopians.

Aboriginal community understandings of dementia and responses to dementia care

ObjectiveAboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders are impacted by dementia at higher rates and at a younger age of onset than the broader Australia population. Public health strategies to support this population require a thorough understanding of how Aboriginal people perceive dementia and dementia care support needs. The aim of this study was to investigate Aboriginal community understandings of dementia and their responses to dementia care. Study designThis study is a community participatory action research partnership. MethodsThe mixed method study was undertaken in 2017 with members of a discrete Aboriginal community from rural Tasmania, Australia. Participants were older than 18 years, self-identified as an Aboriginal person and were living or had lived in the community studied. Data were derived from 50 participants who completed the 27-item Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale (DKAS). Twelve of these participants also shared their dementia care experiences in individual interviews. ResultsThe DKAS results showed a low overall level of dementia knowledge, with a total mean score of 27.73 (scoring 51% on average) of a possible score of 54. The salient interview theme was the cultural obligation to care for family members living with dementia. Dementia care metaphors represented ways to protect family members living with dementia and maintain their ongoing connections to home and community. However, limited understandings of dementia affected their capacity to provide quality care. ConclusionThe findings contribute to public health scholarship involving Aboriginal community responses to dementia care. The study has resulted in important initiatives including a community-based dementia education program to ensure Aboriginal people impacted by dementia are provided with effective and culturally appropriate care.

Community-Academic Partnerships to Reduce Cancer Inequities: The ChicagoCHEC Community Engagement Core.

In 2015, Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative (ChicagoCHEC) was formed to address cancer inequities. The Community Engagement Core (CEC) is one of the key components aimed at establishing meaningful partnerships between the academic institutions and the community. Herein, we describe ChicagoCHEC CEC processes, challenges, opportunities, successes, and preliminary evaluation results. CEC stresses participatory and empowerment approaches in all aspects of ChicagoCHEC work. Evaluation processes were conducted to assess, report back, and respond to community needs and to evaluate the strength of the partnership. CEC has facilitated meaningful community integration and involvement in all ChicagoCHEC work. The partnership resulted in annual cancer symposium; more than 50 outreach and education activities, including cancer screening and referrals; the development of health resources; and providing expertise in culturally and health literacy appropriate research targeting minorities. Preliminary partnership evaluation results show that ChicagoCHEC researchers and community partners have developed trust and cohesiveness and value the community benefits resulting from the partnership. CEC is essential in achieving research objectives following community participatory action research (CPAR) approaches. Some key lessons learned include 1) the need for clear, honest, and open channels of communication not only among the three participating academic institutions, but also among the community partners, 2) transparent operational processes, and 3) mutual trust and understanding regarding the different cultures, structure, foci and processes, expectations at each institution and partnering organization.

Community Participatory Action Research Approach as an Effective Tool Towards Adoption of Corn-Based Farming System Technologies by Libona, Bukidnon Farmers

participatory, community, technologies, adoption, sustainability

The rise and fall of academic community psychology in Palestine and the way forward

In this article, I examine the inception of a decolonised community psychology programme in the Palestinian colonial context and its subsequent decline and setback. I describe the background to the Palestinian colonial condition, and the theoretical inspiration for the programme by the short-lived experience of grassroots organising during the first Palestinian Intifada is illustrated. Specific pedagogical and research activities, marked by the influence of the Latin American liberation psychology model, are presented and discussed. These include a focus on praxis, dialogical education, conscientisation and community participatory action research. I consider the influence of the South African experience on the programme principally in reference to Steve Biko’s notion of Black Consciousness, which translated to Palestinian collective-national identity, as well as relevance in psychological knowledge. In the concluding section, I appraise the setback of the programme in light of administrative and epistemological debates with related disciplines that shifted from psychological-individualistic reductionism to social-cultural reductionism. I conclude with the assertion that unless framed within the context of the broader anti-colonial national liberation movement, a decolonised community psychology has minimal chances to survive and thrive.

Inuit involvement in developing a participatory action research project on youth, violence prevention, and health promotion

This article describes the process of developing an academic and community participatory action research partnership on Inuit youth and violence prevention through social media. Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada chose the topic, defined the research goals, co-developed the first draft of the project and its methodology, established and chaired an Inuit advisory committee, spearheaded consultations with other Inuit organizations to refine the methodology, and co-facilitated a focus group. The “action” part of the project involved using the research results to develop with Inuit youth an outreach strategy to prevent violence and promote health via social media. The article discusses the research process, which was guided byInuit Qaujimajatuqangit(traditional values) and which used a methodology redesigned by Inuit, including youth and elders. The result was a violence prevention focus group for Inuit aged 18 to 25, co-led by the Mamisarvik Healing Centre, and an online survey of social media use among Inuit aged 18 to 25. This participatory action research process is presented as a potential model for academic-community partnerships.

Project-based community participatory action research using geographic information technologies

The paper investigates the effects of a project-based community participation course in which students chose research topics relevant to a local community. Specifically, the students undertook the following projects: (1) creating a virtual 3D model of a local government office, (2) creating interactive digitized versions of mountain trails using geotourism, (3) determining optimal locations for trash recycling bins using network analysis, and (4) assessing the water quality of a local river. Geographic information technologies, such as GIS and Google Earth, were employed as analytical and visualization tools. The answers to a questionnaire, course evaluations, reflective journals, and interviews found that participants positively evaluated their learning experiences. In addition, the projects received favorable reviews from community members and professional geographers.

Influential Factors of Puerto Rican Mother-Child Communication About Sexual Health Topics.

Introduction Latina mothers play a central role in raising and socializing their children; however, few studies have examined the cultural, socio-cognitive and neighborhood-related variables influencing the level of communication between Puerto Rican mothers and their children about sexuality and sexual health. This cross-sectional study sought to examine these influences. Methods Puerto Rican mothers with children aged 10-19years (n=193) were selected randomly for an ethnographic interview as part of a community participatory action research project in a U.S. urban northeastern community. Results Bivariate analyses found statistically significant associations between the child's age (p=0.002), the mother's past communication about traditional gender role norms of women (marianismo) (p<0.001), her positive outcome expectations for communications with her child (p<0.025), and her perceptions of the physical condition (p<0.001) and sexual health problems (p=0.047) in the neighborhood. In a multivariate model, all of these variables remained significant except sexual health problems, and mother's attitudes toward the obligations of children to parents (familismo) emerged as a factor associated with a decrease in the number of sexual health topics that mothers raised with their children. No significant effects were found for mother's spiritual and religious experience (religiosidad). Discussion Our study highlights the importance of marianismo as a framework within which Puerto Rican mothers communicate sexual health information as well as the need to improve mothers' confidence discussing sexual health issues with their children. Future public health interventions to promote communication about sexuality and sexual health among Puerto Rican mothers should consider addressing this issue as a part of comprehensive neighborhood improvement projects.