Use Of Participatory Research Research Articles

Fertility education: recommendations for developing and implementing tools to improve fertility literacy†.

Many recent societal trends have led to the need for fertility education, including the age at which individuals become parents, the development of new reproductive technologies, and family diversity. Fertility awareness has emerged as a concept very recently and is increasingly gaining recognition. However, fertility education is often neglected as there is no consensus on the appropriate content, target populations, or on who should provide it. This article attempts to provide an overview of the use of interventions to improve fertility education. We emphasize the importance of delivering evidence-based information on fertility and reproductive health through various methods while providing guidelines for their standardization and systematization. Recommendations are provided to aid the development and implementation of fertility education tools, including: the establishment of a comprehensive understanding of the target populations; the incorporation of theories of behavioural change; the inclusion of the users' perspectives and the use of participatory research; and the use of specific guidelines for increasing engagement. By following these recommendations, it is expected that fertility education resources can contribute to improving fertility literacy, empowering individuals and couples to make informed reproductive decisions, and ultimately reducing the incidence of infertility and need for fertility treatment.

Organizational Facilitation of Latino Substance Use Disorder Treatment: Impact of COVID-19.

Continued high opioid overdose death rates in the United States and increasing New York State (NYS) Latino opioid overdoses make the facilitation of Latino access to NYS substance use disorder (SUD) treatment essential. SUD treatment facilities in NYS sustained an estimated 37% decrease in Latino enrollment during phase one of the pandemic. This study invited NYS SUD service providers to describe ways in which SUD organizations facilitated Latino SUD treatment prior to and during phase one of the pandemic. Using an individual and community interaction framework of vulnerability and a description of organizational enabling resources in four domains, this study used a cross-sectional descriptive design to investigate the levels of organizational facilitators for Latino SUD treatment access and the impact of the pandemic on these organizational facilitators. A convenience sample of 470 NYS SUD clinicians participated in the study. The outcomes suggest an overall erosion of organizational enabling resources during the pandemic. Erosion was greatest in areas with a higher Latino population density in the domains of insured/immigration/legal information and culture. A pattern of strengthening resources in areas with lower Latino population density in the domains of language and telehealth access has defied the overall pattern of deterioration. The increase in telehealth did not cross the digital divide to stop the decrease in Latino enrollment and did not compensate for the overall erosion of access facilitators. The overall outcomes suggest opportunities to explore local variations in resource health. Recommendations to improve health equity include the use of participatory research to assess community needs and the implementation of community partnerships to address systemic barriers and rebuild equitable addiction services.

The Library Advisory Group at the University of Essex: working in partnership with students to shape services

This article discusses the formation and development of the Library Advisory Group at the University of Essex, exploring the benefits of this as a vehicle for service enhancement and culture change within the library and the wider institution. It begins with a literature review discussing the use of participatory research, collaborative design and ‘UX’ methods in libraries, and their appropriateness both for generating meaningful improvements and towards community building. This is followed by a case study, detailing the philosophy behind the formation of the Group, and its use for space planning and service evaluation, as well as its role in fostering a sense of learning community. Consideration is then given to the limitations of the Group in achieving these aims, and next steps towards refining this approach towards user engagement and partnership working are discussed.

Health Promotion in Socially Vulnerable Youth: Sports as a Powerful Vehicle?

Community sport has emerged in the past decades and uses sports as a lever to improve health and well-being among socially disadvantaged youth. Despite this premise, we do not know whether and to what extent health promotion aims are achieved within community sports practice. Measurable actions are needed, but it can be hard for researchers or practitioners to know how to approach this. This study aimed at developing a health-promoting intervention targeting youth attending community sports. To this aim, we used a planned approach for intervention design within a community-based participatory research design. The result is a group-based program promoting health-supportive behavior among community sport coaches, as we found coaches to be quintessential in fostering motivation toward health behavior change in vulnerable youth attending community sports. The design of such a complex intervention is difficult, yet tractable, when using a planned approach. Of importance, community engagement was the core of our work and we provide the reader with detailed examples on the combined use of participatory research and planned intervention design. This article provides an exemplar of how to approach the development of a health-promoting intervention in hard-to-reach populations.

Flood hazard assessment and the role of citizen science

Flood hazard assessment is at the core of flood risk management. In order to develop an efficient flood hazard assessment, it is of primary importance to have a well‐defined flood scenario encompassing all processes that could occur during an event. Understanding and assessing these processes requires meteorological, topographical and land‐use data as well as historical observations. Nowadays, flood delineation is based upon hydrological and hydraulic modelling, ground data collection, and remote sensing. Despite the advantages of these tools, they also present some specific limitations, either intrinsic to the approaches or linked with constraints of the local context. With the rapid advancement of web 2.0 technologies (e.g., Flickr and Wikimapia) and the increase of the use of participatory research, citizen science has the potential to provide valuable and complementary information at all levels of flood risk management and in particular for flood hazard assessment. After reviewing the capabilities and limitations of the current tools used in flood hazard assessment, this paper demonstrates the role that citizen science can play in providing key information on factors leading to flooding and on flood hazard parameters.

Community Defined Measures of Success and Inclusive Research in Peacebuilding

Participatory research is a tool for community inclusion in peace and development programs. Participation is a popularly promoted concept, but rarely implemented in research. Search for Common Ground (Search), an international peacebuilding NGO, reflects in this paper on four past projects to assess if and how participatory research brings an added value to peacebuilding programming. The projects were selected from across Africa, and each applied one of the following participatory research methods: Youth Led Research, Outcome Harvesting, and an adapted Social Network Analysis. The findings are based on a literature review, review of M&E planning, monitoring, and final evaluation of each of the four projects, and seven semi‐structured Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with M&E and Project Management staff. Our research questions were, Do participatory research processes change metrics of success? How is success understood under these processes? What lessons can be drawn from these processes? and, Which best practices emerge that differ from what already exists? Traditional research, where community members are research subjects instead of partners, limits the perspectives that feed the bodies of knowledge influencing program design and definitions of success. Participatory research creates opportunities to track minority voices, which the inclusion of and responses to fundamentally change programs' definitions of success. A primary value of participatory research is in how it escapes the rigidity of formal processes, which are often donor‐driven and not responsive to changing needs on the ground. The examined project in West Africa has project indicators that intentionally respond to youth researchers' findings on worst forms of violence in their community. The resulting definitions came directly from the targeted community, and were unique from any indicators that program staff would have developed (one example: including consistent hunger as a form of violence). Another added value of participation in research is the increases in sustained community involvement in other aspects of programming. Sustained involvement may also include increased engagement with other institutions, such as local government; the effect is even more powerful when projects explicitly build the use of participatory research into the project objectives. Participation is also recognized as valuable in itself. Participatory research creates opportunities to track minority voices, the inclusion of which and responses to fundamentally change definitions of success. A key lesson learned is that the success and growth of participatory research requires a receptive donor or institutional environment. This area should continue to be explored, to determine how community‐based research can be used to advocate for high‐level change. Theories of Change (TOCs) are identified as a potential path for promoting adaptive learning and participatory research. Tracking the changes to the TOC and the corresponding changes to a project over time create space for new definitions of project success that value adaptability and real‐time relevance, beyond the rigidity and limits of donor‐imposed learning systems. Finally, what makes this approach unique from current common practice is its shift to reconsider who can speak with authority on issues relevant to peacebuilding research. The consequent adaptive learning better respond to the unique position of peacebuilding research as a set of tools applied in inherently uncertain and complex contexts.

Collection and validation of self-sampled e-logbook data in a Mediterranean demersal trawl fishery

Over the last several years, a great deal of emphasis has been given to the use of participatory research to enhance knowledge co-production between fisheries stakeholders, involving fishers in the sampling of their catches both for scientific and control purposes. Indeed, this approach could complement data collection through trawl surveys and onboard observers, which is usually expensive and thus, does not allow much spatio-temporal coverage. Within the EU participatory research project, GAP2, electronic logbooks were installed on board otter-trawlers to collect haul-by-haul geo-referenced catch data in the Adriatic Sea (NW Mediterranean Sea). Between September 2012 and December 2013, catches of some of the most important otter-trawl target species (8 species including teleosts, cephalopods, and crustaceans) were recorded in 3588 self-sampled hauls. Because a major concern for the use of these data is related to their quality, self-sampling was run concurrently with a scientific observers’ program, which allowed the detailed monitoring of catches from 249 hauls. The latter dataset was used to test the reliability of fishers’ self-sampled data and for their validation. In all species, no significant disagreement between the two datasets was observed. The full self-sampled dataset was thus used to describe the spatio-temporal changes in catches, as derived by observers’ data, allowing important insights into species’ life cycles. Results agreed with available literature information and fishers’ experience-based knowledge, which was thus embedded in the process of data validation and results interpretation. The collaboration between scientists and fishermen was demonstrated to be a valuable approach for generating reliable fisheries data, allowing a better understanding and quantitative descriptions of species’ life cycles and the attainment of a common base of knowledge for the enforcement of spatially explicit fisheries management.

Participatory Research: A Tool for Extension Educators

Given their positions in communities across the United States, Extension educators are poised to have meaningful partnerships with the communities they serve. This article presents a case for the use of participatory research, which is a departure from more conventional forms of research based on objectivity, researcher distance, and social control over the research process. Participatory research embraces principles such as equitable relations between the researcher and study participants, the production of knowledge, and reflexivity. This article details these principles in more detail and offers some practical applications for Extension educators.

Finding ways to do research on, with and for children and young people

ABSTRACTIn this article I focus on the emergence of children's geographies as a sub-area of the discipline and its methodological contribution to engaging children and young people in research. I provide an overview of the origins of such methodological innovation and discuss the use of participatory research and visual methods in particular as valuable tools to capture children's and young people's voices. Drawing on a range of current research examples allows a critical discussion of issues such as the representation of children's and young people's voices through research, and their participation in (and beyond) the research process. These issues will not only introduce the reader to theoretical underpinnings and methodological approaches as emerging in the area of children's geographies but also indicate the possible contribution developments in children's geographies can make to wider educational debates, different fields within geography and to anyone aiming to do research with, on or for children and young people.

Use of participatory research and photo-voice to support urban Aboriginal healthy eating

The aim of this research was to work collaboratively with an urban Aboriginal community to understand meanings of food and food insecurity and strengthen responses to this issue. The project took place at the Wathaurong Aboriginal Cooperative in Geelong, South Eastern Australia in 2009-2010. Photo-voice research methods were used to explore meanings of food and food insecurity. This identified that food selections were influenced by family harmony, collectivism and satiation of hunger with cheap high carbohydrate and fat foods. People were also proud of their hunter-gatherer heritage and saw the Wathaurong Aboriginal Cooperative as leaders in healthy food provision. Action research cycles were used to develop responses including plates depicting healthy food portions, social cooking opportunities, development of a cooking television series and a specialised cook-book. The partnership required researchers to listen carefully to respond to needs of the Wathaurong Aboriginal Cooperative, and this meant adapting research plans to suit the local environment and community partner needs. There is potential for Aboriginal organisations to provide further leadership for healthy eating and food security through workplace food policies and partnerships with food security agencies. Use of Aboriginal nutrition knowledge to provide nutrition education may be useful in health promotion approaches.

Praxis und Forschung: Wie tief ist der Graben? Erste Erfahrungen in der Schweiz, beurteilt nach Prinzipien des Participatory Research

INTRODUCTION: Due to the raising of the occupational therapy education onto the level of universities of applied sciences in Switzerland research is now also required besides education and further training. Research should strongly be connected to the needs of practice and one expects research to generate practice-relevant results. A close co-operation with practice is therefore inevitable. PURPOSE: In order to explore experiences with applied research, the co-operation of a project group between a university hospital and a university of applied sciences was evaluated. METHOD: To answer the research question ”How do persons involved in a research co-operation between the department of Occupational Therapy, PUK Zurich, and the Institute of Occupational Therapy, ZHAW, evaluate their collaboration with regard to the principles of Participatory Research?” a questionnaire was constructed. The questionnaire mainly contained open questions. The members of the project group filled it in. The answers were made anonymous and analyzed by means of meaning condensation. RESULTS: Results are presented in accordance to the principles of Participatory Research. Analysis revealed different promoting and preventing factors regarding the principles of a Participatory Research project. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The use of Participatory Research makes very high demands on all persons involved. Despite large expenditure (time and money) this form of research tries to make the gap smaller between research and practice. During this phase of pioneer work of occupational therapy research in Switzerland still many obstacles must be overcome. The direct discourse is needed between practically active occupational therapists, representatives of the professional association, as well as institutions for education and research. One has to discuss, which kind of co-operation and research work is desired and realizable.

Some common questions about participatory research: a review of the literature

This article reviews, through reference to the published literature, some key questions about participatory research. When should participatory research be used? How should participatory research be applied? What about quality of science in participatory research? Are there any institutional issues associated with the use of participatory research? And what are the benefits and costs of participatory research? The article is not a comprehensive literature review on participatory research, it is not meant to set standards for participatory research, nor to define what constitutes ‘good’ participatory research, but rather it seeks to summarise the realities of implementing participatory research, as discussed and debated by several published authors, and to provide some useful background for this special issue.

The Value and Challenges of Participatory Research: Strengthening Its Practice

The increasing use of participatory research (PR) approaches to address pressing public health issues reflects PR's potential for bridging gaps between research and practice, addressing social and environmental justice and enabling people to gain control over determinants of their health. Our critical review of the PR literature culminates in the development of an integrative practice framework that features five essential domains and provides a structured process for developing and maintaining PR partnerships, designing and implementing PR efforts, and evaluating the intermediate and long-term outcomes of descriptive, etiological, and intervention PR studies. We review the empirical and nonempirical literature in the context of this practice framework to distill the key challenges and added value of PR. Advances to the practice of PR over the next decade will require establishing the effectiveness of PR in achieving health outcomes and linking PR practices, processes, and core elements to health outcomes.

Reflections on use of participatory research for disaster risk reduction

Participatory research approaches are increasingly popular with academic researchers and development organisations working to facilitate change in collaboration with local communities. This paper contributes to recent debates over the use of participatory approaches by examining the use of participatory research within disaster risk reduction. Drawing on research in Papua New Guinea in which participatory techniques were used with indigenous communities to determine strategies for dealing with environmental hazards, the value of such techniques is critiqued. Finally the significance of participatory research as a research methodology is discussed as is its possible contribution to disaster risk reduction policy.

The use of participatory research as an alternative approach for information needs research

This article reports on a study undertaken to explore the feasibility of using a participatory research approach as a method for determining information needs. Dissatisfaction with the use of quantitative methods and techniques in information needs research resulted in a gradual move towards the use of qualitative methods focusing on the users themselves in determining their information needs. Participatory research is a qualitative research methodology that challenges the principles and practices of objective, detached, quantitative research approaches. The use of participatory research methods in this project resulted in the identification of reliable and relevant information needs. These results can serve as an example for the increasing use of qualitative techniques in information needs research and affirm that participatory research methods can be a valuable alternative in the area of information needs research.

Development of more effective conservation farming systems through participatory on-farm research

AbstractResearch aimed at advancing conservation farming practices is typically performed using traditional scientific approaches, which have been highly successful in increasing agricultural output and efficiency. With the current emphasis on environmental and economic sustainability of agriculture, there is a need for a more integrated approach to applied agricultural research. Participatory research helps to bring scientific methods and the integrated production needs of farmers together to develop practical, effective, and carefully tested farming methods. The strength of participatory research is in the synergism of scientists and farmers working together to design, implement, and evaluate research. The development of new technologies for farming systems large or small, conventional or organic, can be greatly enhanced through more extensive use of participatory research.

Community psychology in the Canadian psychological family.

Abstract I review the marginalized status of community psychology in the history of psychology in Canada, emphasizing the early precedents of applied mental health and community interventions. I present the findings from inquiries into undergraduate and graduate training in community psychology in Canada. After assessing current problems in the subdiscipline, I make recommendations for future directions and discuss the potential usefulness of community psychology to professional psychology in meeting the challenges of public mental health.Resume J'examine le caractere marginal de la psychologie communautaire dabs l'histoire de la psychologie au Canada, en mettant l'accent sur les premieres interventions communautaires et en sante mentale. Je presente les conclusions d'enquetes sur la formation de premier, de deuxieme et de troisieme cycles en psychologie communautaire au Canada. Apres avoir evalue les problemes que connait actuellement cette sous-discipline, je recommande des orientations pour l'avenir et je traite de la mesure dans laquelle la psychologie communautaire pourrait aider la psychologie professionnelle a relever les defis que pose la sante mentale de la population.Community psychology, in my view, is the applied subdiscipline that is explicitly oriented to developing psychological theory, values, and research methods and to creating innovative social interventions, all for the purposes of: preventing social, economic, health, and mental health problems; improving the quality of life and well-being, particularly for marginalized groups; and building the sense and reality of community and empowerment. (For reviews of the epistemic bases of community psychology and their theoretical, methodological, and practical implications, see the edited volume by Tolan, Keys, Chertok, & Jason, 1990.) A distinctive feature of community psychology, ideally, is the planned use of participatory research in active collaboration with citizens to promote a more equitable distribution of community resources. In both theory and practice, community psychology is broader in scope but overlaps to some degree with professional psychology (i.e., clinical, counselling) and applied social, industrial-organizational, developmental, and educational psychology. The concept of primary prevention, for instance, which is central to community psychology, has insinuated its way into other subdisciplines of applied psychology and other professions such as social work.Current Canadian examples of community psychologists' work include: (1) the application of the standard of social justice to cases of sexual assault in comparison to physical assaults and robberies in order to expose a criminal justice system that minimizes male violence against women and to propose law reform (Renner, Alksnis, & Park, 1997); (2) a participatory, peer-centred evaluation of an urban organization that stimulates community-based economic development intended to counter the debilitating effects of extant marketplace conditions through community organizing, mutual aid, and alternative economic and employment practices (Papineau & Kiely, 1996); (3) the development and evaluation of a collective drama approach with adolescents in schools to heighten peer awareness about and prevent violence against women, which incorporates innovative research methods and report-writing (Community Education Team, in press).According to conventional wisdom, American psychologists originated community psychology in response to the U.S. community mental health movement and social issues in the 1960s. More recently, the community psychology division of the American Psychological Association (APA) became known as the Society for Community Research and Action to signal its action-science intentions. But community psychology, practiced in nations as diverse as Cuba, New Zealand, and Venezuela for over a decade, actually has a much longer history in Canada than in the U. …

Evaluation of a Learner-Produced Photocomic in South Africa

The use of participatory research in developing culturally appropriate health promotion media is now universally recognized. However, although much has been written with respect to the effects of this process on the participants themselves, little evaluation has been conducted on their effectiveness with the larger target group. The photocomic "Between Us" was produced with South African youth to address the issue of communications as it relates to safe sex and non-violent conflict resolution. This article considers its qualitative evaluation. The article first addresses the theory behind the comic's development, and its objectives. It then examines the qualitative results with respect to these objectives: the evaluation showed the comic to be successful in that it elicited identification among youth with the comic's characters and issues presented. This type of medium offers much potential as a Health Promotion tool to be used in educational settings.

Surfacing Local Theology in Appalachia: The Use of Participatory Research in Theological Reflection

Based on the author's experience in a four-year participatory research project in a rural, Appalachian community, this article describes a variety of participative research strategies which can be used in communities as a way of surfacing “local theology.” Some of the illustrations presented include economic discussions, producing local community history, drama, songwriting, and Bible reflections in which the women in the community attempted to make sense of their faith in terms of their social context.