Ethical challenges of community based participatory research: exploring researchers’ experience

Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) has been proposed as an equitable, empowering partnership approach to collaborative research. International literature about the ethical implications of CBPR suggests a continuing strong interest in the topic. However, there is a notable lack of research that captures the experience of ethical challenges of researchers from different countries who engage in CBPR. The aim of this research was to address this lack of evidence by exploring researchers’ experience of ethical challenges in CBPR at an international level. An innovative data collection method was designed utilising a purpose-built blog. Balancing participant protection and autonomy, partnership tensions, and enduring impacts of the researcher role emerged as the main themes. These findings illustrate the specific conflicts faced by researchers engaged in CBPR. This is largely as a result of the complexities of CBPR coupled with rigid ethics committee review that does not always take into account the more fluid nature of the approach.     

Community based participatory research for public relations: Realizing potential for researcher-participant relationships

Relationship management theory and organizational-public relationships (OPR) continue to guide much of the research in public relations (PR) and espouse values of building collaborative and dialogic interactions for mutual benefit. Yet, OPR historically prioritized the use of relationships to reach organizational goals instead of public or community needs. Furthermore, the relationship paradigm has overlooked the significance of relationships between researchers and participants. This essay urges PR to prioritize researcher-participant relationships when engaging in research that concerns a community by using community-based participatory research (CBPR), an approach that values the contributions of community partners. We consider the foundations and critiques of relationships in PR and explain how CBPR can transcend some of these limitations by facilitating mutual benefit in methodological decisions. We then outline the benefits and challenges of using CBPR based on a review of studies across disciplines and the authors’ reflections on employing CBPR in their research. This work builds on the PR scholarship of relationships to offer concrete ways that researchers can utilize CBPR to address community needs and prioritize participants in the research process.     

Using developmental evaluation and community-based participatory research to develop a model of supportive housing

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) and developmental evaluation (DE) have emerged over recent decades as separate approaches for addressing complex social issues. Current literature offers little with respect to the use of CBPR and DE in combination, although the two approaches are complementary. Through the current paper, we outline how CBPR and DE were used to develop a model of supportive housing for teen families. More specifically, we describe the structures and processes that contributed to this development, including (1) our partnership approach, (2) pooled resources, (3) regular opportunities for collaboration and reflection, (4) integration of multiple data sources, (5) ongoing feedback and knowledge dissemination, and (6) adjustments to program practices. We end by providing insights into the lessons that we learned through this project. Through this paper, we describe how researchers and community partners can collaboratively use CBPR and DE to develop a program model in complex community settings. Insights are offered that will be important for researchers, evaluators, and practitioners seeking to develop programming in response to complex community issues.     

Homelessness and Mental Disorder: Policy Considerations

Abstract

‘Photovoice’ is a photographic method that is used for several purposes (e.g. storytelling, building awareness, enhancing personal discovery), including conducting community-based participatory research (CBPR). Since its creation, photovoice has been used as a method for implementing health-related CBPR projects with people experiencing homelessness. As such, this article presents an overview of seven peer-reviewed publications regarding photovoice projects that were conducted with participants who are homeless. The goal of the review is to provide health professionals with a practical summary of the lessons learned from each photovoice project's methods and findings. Based on the literature, the review's major suggestion is that health professionals should plan and implement future projects according to the fundamental aspects of photovoice (e.g. empowerment of participants to document their community, facilitation of group discussions of photos, concerted efforts to reach policymakers).     

Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) needs assessment of parenting support programs for fathers

This study reports the results of a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) needs assessment of programs, services, and support systems for fathers in the City of Detroit, Michigan. The goal of this needs assessment was to assess the availability of parenting support services to men through multiple perspectives. To enact a CBPR approach, the research team collected qualitative data through interviews with service providers and community dialogues with fathers and consulted a community advisory board for further guidance on the research efforts. The research team engaged in member checking to improve the accuracy and credibility of study findings. Results indicated that both service providers and fathers agreed that very few parenting support services are available to fathers, particularly young African American fathers, and they also largely agreed in establishing priorities to address community fathers' parenting needs. Practice implications include the need for greater collaboration across service sectors and for greater outreach, possibly through technology, to young fathers.     

Using a Community Participatory Research Approach to Understand Satisfaction with Psychopharmacology Among Families of Children with Psychiatric Co-Morbidities

How do parents of children with psychiatric co-morbidities perceive their children’s use of psychiatric medications? To learn more, the Parent/Professional Advocacy League of Massachusetts (PAL), representing families of children with mental health needs, collaborated with researchers on a community-based participatory research (CBPR) study. A questionnaire assessed satisfaction with psychiatric medication as it pertained to children with psychiatric co-morbidities (n = 212). Satisfied parents were likely to employ alternative therapies and feel that prescribers had informed them about medication use and side effects. Results reinforce the need for prescribers to discuss psychopharmacology with families. CBPR improved study relevance and supported PAL’s advocacy efforts.     

Intergenerational Forum to Enhance Students’ Engagement and Learning Outcomes: A Community-Based Participatory Research Study

The Intergenerational Forum (IF) is an innovative intervention that engages students in conducting community-based participatory research (CBPR). This set of guided learning opportunities is designed to improve college students’ understanding of aging and health issues in their communities. In this study, a total of 252 mentoring hours were provided in kind by 78 students. The majority of these youth volunteers were aspiring health professionals who had received intensive academic and field training to strengthen their interpersonal skills and ability to build meaningful one-on-one relationships with vulnerable populations. Additionally, these student volunteers were at higher risk for mental health issues. Findings revealed that as a result of IF, students were able to improve their knowledge and attitudes toward working with older people. Students were able to combine ideas from courses when completing this IF assignment. Particularly, levels of active and collaborative learning were` enriched by engagement with people representing different economic backgrounds, political views, and religious beliefs. Major themes emerged in students’ narrative data revealed their learning outcomes in the areas of self-awareness, empathy, empowerment, and new perspectives about ageism.     

Planning and implementation of a participatory evaluation strategy: A viable approach in the evaluation of community-based participatory programs addressing cancer disparities

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has been posited as a promising methodology to address health concerns at the community level, including cancer disparities. However, the major criticism to this approach is the lack of scientific grounded evaluation methods to assess development and implementation of this type of research. This paper describes the process of development and implementation of a participatory evaluation framework within a CBPR program to reduce breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer disparities between African Americans and whites in Alabama and Mississippi as well as lessons learned. The participatory process involved community partners and academicians in a fluid process to identify common ground activities and outcomes. The logic model, a lay friendly approach, was used as the template and clearly outlined the steps to be taken in the evaluation process without sacrificing the rigorousness of the evaluation process. We have learned three major lessons in this process: (1) the importance of constant and open dialogue among partners; (2) flexibility to make changes in the evaluation plan and implementation; and (3) importance of evaluators playing the role of facilitators between the community and academicians. Despite the challenges, we offer a viable approach to evaluation of CBPR programs focusing on cancer disparities.     

“We’re Who We’ve Been Waiting For”: Intergenerational Community Organizing for a Healthy Community

This study, guided by principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR), presents the processes, challenges, and effects of intergenerational community organizing practice of a local grassroots organization to promote community health in multiracial and historically marginalized communities. Three major lessons emerged: (1) the central role of experiential communal learning and critical analysis in collective knowledge creation, (2) development of collective efficacy through a genuine sense of connection and mutual affirmation, and 3) the importance of a co-learner stance in fostering intergenerational leadership. The interconnection between process and product is emphasized as the central tenet in both community organizing and CBPR processes.     

e-Tools and Organization Transformation Techniques for Collaborative Case Management

SUMMARY

Welfare and workforce development reforms propel individual agencies into formal partnerships with one another. Collaborative Case Management is the cooperative delivery of social services to common clients. This paper describes technological tools and organization transformation issues for collaborative case management. A road map for a successful transition includes a shared vision, business/technology requirements, an information management strategy, redesigned jobs and processes, and a change management strategy.     

Male-to-Female Transgender Individuals Building Social Support and Capital From Within a Gender-Focused Network

ABSTRACT

The literature on male-to-female transgender myriad problems such individuals face in their day-to-day lives, including high rates of HIV/AIDS, addiction to drugs, violence, and lack of health care. These problems are exacerbated for ethnic and racial minority MTFs. Support available from their social networks can help MTFs alleviate these problems. This article explores how minority MTFs, specifically in an urban environment, develop supportive social networks defined by their gender and sexual identities. Using principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR), 20 African American and Latina MTFs were recruited at a community-based health care clinic. Their ages ranged from 18 to 53. Data were coded and analyzed following standard procedure for content analysis. The qualitative interviews revealed that participants formed their gender and sexual identities over time, developed gender-focused social networks based in the clinic from which they receive services, and engaged in social capital building and political action. Implications for using CBPR in research with MTFs are discussed.     

Adoption of ride-sharing apps by Chinese taxi drivers and its implication for the equality and wellbeing in the sharing economy

The adoption of ride-sharing apps is critical to the survival of taxi drivers in the mobile-driven sharing economy. Based on survey data collected from 1195 licensed taxi drivers in Beijing, the authors present an integrated technology adoption model that combines technology and use factors (perceived usefulness and ease of use), social factors (word-of-mouth, peer adoption and subjective norms), system factors (socioeconomic and digital inequality), and audience factors (demographic characteristics and innovative personality traits). The results showed that adoption was innate, inherited, and socially driven. Adoption was positively associated with income, access to technologies, innovative personality trait, peer adoption, word-of-mouth, and perceived usefulness of the apps. The implications of the findings for inequality in the sharing economy are discussed.     

Key misconceptions when assessing digital technology for municipal youth social work

ABSTRACT

Municipal youth protection work has become infused with digital technology, and yet there is still limited research on how to assess the impact of digital technology on municipal youth social work. This article reviews a range of misconceptions regarding the assessment of digital technology for youth social work in municipal contexts. This review was generated in connection with the development of an app system for communication between young clients and their municipal social workers in Denmark. The misconceptions relate to: variations in technologies and contexts; the impact of digital technologies on the relationship; social justice; differentiating between the user and the digital technology; digitalization and standardization; stakeholder and functional models of municipal social work. The paper concludes that the relationship between municipal social work and digital technology is complex and that thus complex comprehensions of municipal social work practice are needed if the relationship between technologies and practice is to be grasped adequately. The paper argues that given the complexity of the field and the speed of technological and legal changes, external support with regard to assessing how to use, develop and incorporate digital technology needs to be made available to municipalities and social workers.     

Collaborative evaluation within a framework of stakeholder-oriented evaluation approaches

Collaborative Evaluation systematically invites and engages stakeholders in program evaluation planning and implementation. Unlike "distanced" evaluation approaches, which reject stakeholder participation as evaluation team members, Collaborative Evaluation assumes that active, on-going engagement between evaluators and program staff, result in stronger evaluation designs, enhanced data collection and analysis, and results that stakeholder understand and use. Among similar "participant-oriented" evaluation approaches (Fitzpatrick, Sanders, & Worthen, 2011), Collaborative Evaluation distinguishes itself in that it uses a sliding scale for levels of collaboration. This means that different program evaluations will experience different levels of collaborative activity. The sliding scale is applied as the evaluator considers each program's evaluation needs, readiness, and resources. While Collaborative Evaluation is a term widely used in evaluation, its meaning varies considerably. Often used interchangeably with participatory and/or empowerment evaluation, the terms can be used to mean different things, which can be confusing. The articles use a comparative Collaborative Evaluation Framework to highlight how from a theoretical perspective, Collaborative Evaluation distinguishes itself from the other participatory evaluation approaches.     

Research with American Indian communities: The value of authentic partnerships

Developing evidence for practice is particularly difficult when attempting to accurately capture the experiences of diverse communities. In American Indian communities, the lack of communication between researchers and their subjects has been increasingly recognized. Recent adjustments to research methods, such as community-based participatory research (CBPR) have attempted to emphasize the importance of recognizing the needs and wishes of those studied. Yet, perhaps due to imperfect application, they may fall short in promoting participation and yielding accurate results. A number of fallacies can hinder successful use of the model including the assumption that ‘cultural sensitivity’ or even locating a project in the community of interest will open the door to successful engagement. Reality-based research was conceived to address these potential deficiencies. It builds on CBPR and is proposed as a means to more effectively develop a connection between American Indians who might benefit from the research relationship and the researchers themselves. An example of a reality-based research project on tobacco use is provided and steps for adopting this approach in child welfare are outlined. These steps set this article apart from other works seeking to address this issue and provide concrete practical assistance to researchers in the field.     

HAVE YOU BEEN IDENTIFIED? Hidden boundary work in emergency services classifications

Information technologies, such as the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system, have fundamentally changed workplace protocols. This paper examines the impacts that the standardized processes associated with the CAD system have on the labour of 9-1-1/police call-takers. Through an analysis of the labour of 9-1-1/police call-takers and their processes for classifying emergency call(er)s, we are able to uncover the negotiated labour between human and machine. It is argued throughout the paper that the standardized processes of the CAD system do not remove the social from call-taking but instead emphasize the use of the social as a resource for classifying call(er)s. The present analysis illustrates how emergency classification is not a standardized process but instead an actively constructed virtual image performed in real space and time by call-takers. It is the call-takers' tacit knowledge and ability to work across the virtual, abstract and material worlds that makes them essential players in emergency response.     

The Body Comes to Therapy Too

Current research reveals that trauma often cannot be resolved solely through interventions that utilize left-brain functions, such as those used in traditional talk therapy. Because trauma is actually something that happens deep in the core of the brain and the body, the most effective treatment approaches integrate traditional therapy modalities with those that focus on calming the nervous system such as yoga, mindfulness, imagery, expressive arts, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. This paper will focus on synthesizing current information on traumatic stress, the neurobiology of trauma, and evidence-based, body-integrative interventions provided within the framework of the Collaborative Change Model (CCM) (Barrett in The systemic treatment of incest. Taylor & Francis, Bristol, 1989; Treating complex trauma: a relational blueprint for collaboration and change. Rutledge, New York, 2014). Through the framework of the CCM, this paper will provide clinicians with an understanding of how and when to engage clients in body–mind approaches, how to help clients learn to recognize when they are in fight, flight, or freeze response patterns, and how to develop skills for managing emotional dysregulation. A detailed case study will be provided to illustrate this integrative approach in the treatment of trauma.     

Assistive technology for disabled visual artists: exploring the impact of digital technologies on artistic practice

Abstract

Disabled artists with physical impairments can experience significant barriers in producing creative work. Digital technologies offer alternative opportunities to support artistic practice, but there has been a lack of research investigating the impact of assistive digital tools in this context. This article explores the current practice of physically impaired visual artists and their experiences around the use of digital technologies. An online survey was conducted with professional disabled artists and followed up by face-to-face interviews with 10 invited artists. The findings illustrate the issues disabled artists experience in their practice and highlight how they are commonly using mainstream digital technologies as part of their practice. However, there is little awareness around novel forms of technology (e.g. eye gaze tracking) that present new creative opportunities. The importance of digital tools for supporting wider practice (i.e. administrative and business tasks) was also highlighted as a key area where further work is required.