By Vinodkumar Rao, Puja Solanki & Sheela Patel Traditionally, medical camps by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), corporate sponsors, foundations, and other charitable institutions are seen as acts of charity. The communities that the camps support also see them as short, solidarity events. Weak public health systems, particularly those in preventive health, necessitate such acts of charity. […]
The International Society for Urban Health (ISUH) is the only global non-governmental organization solely focused on advancing urban health and health equity by addressing the broader determinants of health. Through its annual global conference and program activities, the ISUH serves as a platform for interdisciplinary academic researchers and educators, practitioners and policymakers from multiple sectors […]
By Ivy Chumo, Abu Conteh, Smiriti Jukur, Lilian Otiso, Samuel Saidu and Linda Waldman In recent years, the term ‘informality’ has become increasingly popular. Urban informality refers to that which is not formal and is closely linked to terms such as the informal economy, informal settlements, informal work, housing and governance. ‘Urban informality’, Roy argues, […]
Nicera Wanjiru writes about a recent successful knowledge exchange between ARISE colleagues in Kenya and Sierra Leone, where many different approaches were shared including utilising physical addressing systems, savings culture and the ripple effect of community mapping. “The knowledge that we have acquired in the course of this learning exchange is not going to gather […]
Effective health research is built upon equitable partnerships between researchers and communities. In Connecting Citizens to Science, Dr. Kim Ozano and Robinson Karuga, interview expert researchers from across the globe who engage with communities in their research. Series 4: Research for social change within urban informal communities Series 4 of Connecting Citizens to Science is supported […]
Lynda Keeru documents discussions in the ARISE panel of the Gobeshona Global Conference on Research into Action. Speakers included Vinod Rao, Shrutika Murthy, Inayat Kakkar, Wafa Alam, Dr Aditya Pradyumna and Smruti Jukur. Vinod introduced the session and explained to the participants some of the issues and themes that the presenters would be addressing – urban […]
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
