Rosie Steege, Jane Wairutu and Linet Okoth report back on the passing of the Nairobi City County Community Health Services Act in June 2021 – welcome news for Nairobi’s Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) who have waited almost two years since the Bill’s inception. The Bill sees Nairobi’s CHVs entitled to receive a monthly stipend of […]
Cities are increasingly attracting the world’s population and economic activities as they offer specific advantages. This rapid urbanization, as characterized by the bustling cities, has been accompanied by the development of informal settlements that are now home to multitudes in cities around the globe, such as Nairobi. Nairobi’s burgeoning slums are, like all communities, places […]
Nelly Muturi from LVCT Health reflects on what she has learned from conducting a Photovoice project with marginalised community members in the informal settlements of Nairobi. While I have been working with marginalized people from urban informal settlements for some time, my experience from the Photovoice phase of the ARISE study has been unique. It […]
The UKRI research budget is facing cuts that may affect our ability to continue with work within ARISE. Our team in Nairobi, Kenya from LVCT Health reflect on what potential reductions in the budget for this work means on the ground. Before COVID-19 many people did not understand why we have to address the health […]
The UKRI research budget is facing cuts that may affect our ability to continue with work within ARISE. Our team in Nairobi, Kenya from APHRC – Blessing Mberu and Caroline Kabaria – reflect on what potential reductions in the budget for this work means on the ground. Now and into the foreseeable future, Sub-Saharan Africa […]
Ivy Chumo, Helen Elsey, Caroline Kabaria and Blessing Mberu argue that governments need to have data that can recognise the challenges that residents of informal settlements face. Data sets need to be freely available so they can be used in evidence-based policy making in Kenya and beyond. The growth of informal settlements and poor residential […]
Involving community researchers and the broader community in the development and validation of priorities, study tools, data collection processes, data analysis, interpretation and action planning is important to the quality of the CBPR process. Consistently engaging the community in monitoring the progress of community activities and gaining their reflexive accounts of the actions ensures rigour within the research process.
Capacities (competencies and conditions)
●Awareness of trustworthiness criteria that draw on critical epistemologies
●Ability to assess and develop contextualised code of research ethics including safeguarding
●Capacity to undertake validation exercises with stakeholders and the wider community to ensure the study is relevant, accepted and supported
●Ongoing learning, quality assessment and safeguarding assessment
●Capacity to contextualise research materials that value local ways of knowing and knowledge production
●Knowledge on how to engage in and apply reflexivity, considering positionality with regard to research findings, to strengthen rigour and trustworthiness
●Ability to triangulate different sources of information to determine research priorities, approach and actions
●Rigorous research findings which draw on trustworthiness criteria
●Generalisable research processes that can enhance CBPR techniques
●Community based research that is robust and adds value to communities, policies and practices
●Community members learn research skills, gain access to resources, and find ways to legitimate their knowledge, which have previously been limited by a history of exclusionary research practices
●After the research partnership has undertaken a process of prioritisation, and before conceptualising the research, validate the priorities and incorporate additional context to increase trustworthiness in the process
●Design research analysis and interpretation procedures that involve community researchers and associated stakeholders
●Have an outsider to help increase the rigour and real and perceived validity of the research
●Conduct data interpretation sessions to discuss interpretations, add context to information collected, and facilitate a better understanding of project documentation
●Triangulate data sources and add participant checking
●Undertake co-analysis activities with co-researchers and stakeholders
●Increase the reliability of the study by developing and using a case study protocol and a chain of evidence
●Design survey and interview questions that are culturally aligned enhancing the fit of the research with the implementing context
●Identify relational and situated ethical and safeguarding concepts and approaches that best fit the specific context and the process-oriented nature of CBPR (25)
●Constructive negotiation with gatekeeping bodies such as funders and research ethics committees to increase understanding of appropriate approaches
●Engage co-researchers and community members during the research tool preparation to cover all the essential aspects of the research including safeguarding risks
Utilise quality criteria to evaluate the CBPR process – see Springett, Atkey (26) and Sandoval, Lucero (27
●Documentation on the translation and adaptation of the materials and quality assurance processes through minutes and notes on discussions and engagement within the team and with stakeholders
●Documentation of research validation processes
●Documentation of discussion during triangulation of findings
●Case studies/stories/blogs that show reflexivity processes
●Peer reviewed publications
●Audio or notes from community validation processes
●NVivo or other screenshots showing quality checking processes
●Development and use of a case study protocol and the development of a database and a chain of evidence to improve reliability of the study
*Please note that some statements are adaptations or direct quotes from the papers listed in the reference section