Hills

Community-based Research Forum University of VictoriaApril 23, 2005: 

Community-based Research Forum University of Victoria April 23, 2005 Marcia D. Hills, R.N., Ph.D. Professor, School of Nursing Director, Centre for Community Health Promotion Research Co-Chair, Canadian Consortium for Health Promotion Research University of Victoria Victoria, BC

History: 

History 1994 BCHRF CBR Training Initiative Designed curriculum for community-based research training Developed 4 training manuals Conducted series of training sessions throughout the province 1999 RDI; SSHRC 3 year funding to advance CBR provincially and nationally 1999- 2002 BCHRF, Research Scholar Award (J Mullett) 1999-2002 Shared Resources to Alleviate Scarce Resources (Mullett, J., Hillman, L., Hills, M. $225,000)

Centre for Community Health Promotion Research: Collaborative Action for Health and Social Change : 

Centre for Community Health Promotion Research: Collaborative Action for Health and Social Change Who we are: Director 2 Centre Co-ordinators 5 Researchers (inc. Distinguished Scholar) 3 Project Co-ordinators 10 Research Assistants (3 with recent awards: Sparks, MSFHR; Burgess, CIHR; Miller, SSHRC)

Community-Based Research: 

Community-Based Research Community-based research is a collaboration between community groups, policy makers and researchers for the purpose of creating new knowledge or understanding about a practical community issue in order to bring about change. The issue is generated by the community and community members participate in all aspects of the research process. Community-based research therefore is collaborative, participatory, empowering, systematic and transformative.

Principles ofCommunity-Based Research: 

Principles of Community-Based Research Planned, systematic, iterative process Relevant to the community Requires community participation Problem solving focus Focuses on societal change Sustainability Human Flourishing

Slide6: 

To generate knowledge about persons without their full participation in deciding how to generate it, is to misrepresent their personhood and to abuse by neglect their capacity for autonomous intentionally. It is fundamentally unethical. (Heron, 1996)

Human Flourishing...: 

Human Flourishing... Human flourishing reconnects individuals to communities and recognizes the 'truth' in our actions and practices. It means that, in community-based research, what is of interest is more than the usual research outcomes. The utility of the outcome is judged on the difference it makes to transforming the health and well being of the community. (Hills andamp; Mullett, 2000)

Research Cycles: 

Research Cycles Action Data Analysis Reflection and Planning Planning What? So What? Why? Now What? Subsequent Cycles

Participatory Methods: 

Participatory Methods Questionnaires Reflective narrative accounts of practice Critical incidents In depth interviews Taped interactions Peer observations Journal writing Audio taping actions or reflections as they are occurring Focus groups

Current projects: 

Current projects Transforming Primary Health Care from Rhetoric to Practice: Collaborative Action for Health and Social Change (Hills et al. $1.3 million: 2001-2006) In from the Margins: Collaborative Action to Improve Access to Appropriate Health Services (Hills et al; $700,000: 2003-2006)

Issues and Questions: 

Issues and Questions What is working? Multi-disciplinary research perspective has demonstrated added value Strengthened research capacity in communities and young researchers Successful knowledge transfer for policy makers, practitioners and community members Increased relevance of research methodologies and approaches Successful in receiving funding for CBR National and international recognition for excellence in CBR

What are the main challenges and needs?: 

What are the main challenges and needs? Capacity, resources, logistical demands Space Developing and nurturing partnerships is time consuming Communication Complicated team structures Ensuring participation increases demands on communication skills and capacities Institutional policies (research, ethics) Forms for ethics don’t work well for multi-year multi-discipline and multi-method research Disciplinary criteria (research quality, publication, promotion) Difficult to write for publication when there is so much pressure to write write grant proposals Our university supportive of promoting faculty who do CBR Other institutional barriers Not enough graduate programs particularly, ones that are multi-disciplinary

Conclusion: 

Conclusion It is possible to inquire systematically and rigorously into a complex field of human action, and to do justice to its wholeness without distorting or fragmenting it; it is possible to co-opt busy practitioners into committed inquiry into their own professional and personal processes; it is possible for co-researchers to descend into the confusion that is real life without the protective clothing of questionnaires, experimental designs, and other forms of defensive armour and to emerge with worthwhile understandings (Reason, 1988)