Study of Participatory Research in Health Promotion

L.W. Green, M.A. George, M. Daniel, C.J. Frankish, C.P. Herbert, W.R. Bowie, M. O'Neill, (1995), Study of Participatory Research in Health Promotion. Royal Society of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, pp 43-50.

Instructions

In order to move toward a greater degree of client involvement in the health promotion process, it is necessary to ask a number of questions about the project. For each of the following, determine how well the project can be categorized in terms of participatory involvement.

Guidelines

1. Participants and the nature of their involvement

Is the community of interest clearly described or defined?

Do members of the defined community participating in the research have concern or experience with the issue?

Are interested members of the defined community provided opportunities to participate in te research process?

Is attention given to barriers to participation, with consideration of those who have been under-represented in the past?

Has attention been given to establishing within the community an understanding of the researchers' commitment to the issue?

Are community participants enabled to contribute their physical and/or intellectual resources to the research process?

2. Origin of the research question

Did the impetus for the research come from the defined community?

Is an effort to research the issue supported by members of the defined community?

3. Purpose of the research

Can the research facilitate learning among community participants about individual and collective resources for self-determination?

Can the research facilitate collaboration between community participants and resources external to the community?

Is the purpose of the research to empower the community to address determinants of health?

Does the scope of the research encompass some combination of political, social and economic determinants of health?

4. Process and context-methodological considerations

Does the research process apply the knowledge of community participants in the phases of planning, implementation and evaluation?

For community participants, does the process allow for learning about research methods?

For researchers, does the process allow for learning about the community health issue?

Does the process allow for flexibility or change in research methods and focus, as necessary?

Are procedures in place for appraising experiences during implementation of the research?

Are community participants involved in analytic issues: interpretation, synthesis and the verification of conclusions?

5. Opportunities to address the issue of interest

Is the potential of the defined community for individual and collective learning reflected by the research process?

Is the potential of the defined community for action reflected by the research process?

Does the process reflect a commitment by researchers and community participants to social, individual or cultural actions consequent to the learning acquired through research?

6. Nature of the research outcomes

Do community participants benefit from the research outcomes?

Is there attention to, or an explicit agreement for acknowledging and resolving in a fair and open way any differences between researchers and community participants in the interpretation of the results?

Is there attention to, or an explicit agreement between researchers and community participants with respect to ownership of the research data?

Is there attention to, or an explicit agreement between researchers and community participants with respect to the dissemination of the research results?

Last Revised: October 5, 2009 10:47 PM