Community-based Research - Fraser Health Authority

Community Based Research
With a Lens on Aging and Gender
Exploring Connections and Fostering
Collaboration
Elana Brief, PhD
Women’s Health Research Network
Bobbi Symes, MA
BC Network on Aging Research

Goals
By the end of the workshop participants will be able to:
• articulate the potential of community
based research
• feel inspired to consider research
questions that emerge from their work
• identify potential collaborators
• seek out resources to support them in
pursuing their research questions

Plan for today
• Wearing multiple hats
• What is Community Based Research?
• Different roles and opportunities
• Asking meaningful questions
• Who else to involve?
• Additional resources

Expertise in the Room
How would I describe myself?
A) Academic Researcher / Student / Research Assistant
B) Community Based Researcher
C) Health Care Provider
D) Community Service Provider
E) Policy Developer / Analyst
F) Research Participant
G) Other

Desire to do Research
Why do I want to engage in research?
A) Need more evidence for decisions I make
B) Need more evidence to convince decision makers
C) Want to make a bigger difference
D) I like details and data
E) Research is necessary to get funding for my unit
F) Build my portfolio to apply for grad school
G) I’m a researcher looking for a good question
H) Other?

Engaged in Community Based Research?

Community Based Research
“… conducted by, for and with the participation
of community members…. Community based
research aims not merely to advance
understanding, but also to ensure that
knowledge contributes to making a concrete and
constructive difference in the world”.
(The Loka Institute, 2002)

Multiple, Overlapping Terms…
• Collaborative research
• Participatory research
• Participatory action research
• Action research
• Feminist action research
• Feminist‐informed participatory action research
• Community‐based participatory research
• Research in practice
And so on!
What they have in common:
•Seek multiple perspectives.
•Goal of the research is
measurable change.

Relationships in “Traditional Research”
I know you only as a
subject.
My academic colleagues
and I have full control
over the study.
This is the first and last
time we meet.
I help out with the project.
I have no input into the
question or design.
I know you only as a
researcher.
I do not contribute to
research question, design,
analysis or dissemination.
I have no access to the
results.

Democratizing Research
Ritas, C. (2003). Speaking Truth, Creating Power: A Guide to Policy Work for Community‐Based Participatory
Research Practitioners. New York NY, Hunter College Center on AIDS, Drugs and Community Health For Community‐
Campus Partnerships for Health.

Examples of Roles
Formulating
the Research
Question
Designing
Method
Data
Collection
Data Analysis
Dissemination
and Action
academic
researcher
clinical
researcher
community
based
researcher
service
provider
policy maker
patient / client

Individual Exercise: What do I like to do?
You’ll have 5 minutes to reflect on these questions. This is just for you –you will not be
asked to share your responses.

What Comes of the Results?
academic
literature
previous
research
Research
Question
academic
collaborators
academic
literature /
grey literature
community
activists
service
delivery
question
previous
research
CBR
Research
Question
academic/community
collaborators
community
needs
assessment
policy issue
or question
collaborative
research process
increased
research skills
Results of
Research
policy
change
Results of
Research
grey
literature
community
action
academic
literature
best
practices
academic
literature

How to build a research team?

Individual and Group Exercises

Networking Survey
What best describes you?
A) Enthusiastic networker
B) Reluctant, but adequate networker
C) Shy, but I’ll meet people
D) I skip all the networking events I can

Awkward Beginnings
Exercise
groups of TWO for 1 minute
say full NAME
(don’t mumble or
cover your mouth)
Hello,
I’m Elana Brief
Ahem…

Making Connections
Having a GOAL helps to connect with others
1. Like minded people
• Asking the same types of questions
• Working with the same populations
2. Complementary skills
• Good at different stages of research
3. Growing partnerships
• Working in different sectors
Determines how
the conversation
will proceed

Promoting Self and Others
Exercise
On your own
1. Reflective Exercise (to come)
2. Answer questions:
• Who am I?
• Two minute blurb: personal research interest.
With a partner
1. Say your name clearly.
2. Say your blurb to each other.
3. Give feedback.
Enlarging your network
1. “Work” the room.
2. Meet people you don’t know.
3. Introduce new people to people you already know.

Advice to the Shy (or Tired)…
It is when people really listen to us, with quiet, fascinated attention,
that the little fountain [inspiration, engagement, enjoyment] begins
to work again, to accelerate in the most surprising way.
I discovered all this about three years ago, and truly it made a
revolutionary change in my life. Before that, when I went to a party,
I would think anxiously: "Now try hard. Be lively. Say bright things.
Talk. Don't let down." And when tired, I would have to drink a lot of
coffee to keep this up.
Now before going to a party, I just tell myself to listen with affection
to anyone who talks to me, to be in their shoes when they talk; to
try to know them without my mind pressing against theirs, or
arguing, or changing the subject.
‐ Brenda Ueland

Reflection: Approaching a Research Question
myself
What do I care
about?
my/our context
social
economic
political
What is possible?
What can I do right
now?
What’s my
question?
my co‐researchers
my co‐workers
my neighbourhood
my community
my/our concerns
How do my concerns
fit with others’
concerns?
What questions or
concerns do I have in
my daily life or work?

Individual Exercise: What’s My Question?
You’ll have 15 minutes to reflect on these questions. This is just for you –you will not be
asked to share your responses.

Fact or Fiction?
FACT
Dark Chocolate is Healthy:
Chocolate is made from plants, which means it contains many of the
health benefits of dark vegetables. These benefits are from flavonoids,
which act as antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the body from aging
caused by free radicals, which can cause damage that leads to heart
disease. Dark chocolate contains a large number of antioxidants (nearly
8 times the number found in strawberries). Flavonoids also help relax
blood pressure through the production of nitric oxide, and balance certain
hormones in the body.
……at least that’s our excuse

Guidelines for Exercise
Exercise
On your own
1. Reflective Exercise
2. Answer questions:
• Who am I?
• Two minute blurb: personal research interest.
With a partner
1. Say your name clearly.
2. Say your blurb to each other.
3. Give feedback.
Enlarging your network
1. “Work” the room.
2. Meet people you don’t know.
3. Introduce new people to people you already know.

Large Group Discussion
1.What surprised you?
2.What challenged you?
3.What questions do you still have?

Resources from BCNAR and WHRN

Our Common Ground – Goals of Publication
research in girls’
and women’s health
action based on research

What’s In Our Common Ground?

Definitions and Philosophy

Roles and Responsibility

Research Strategies

Celebrating Action

Worksheets for Discussion

Research Primers
Sex & Gender
Health Determinants
Intersectionality
Community Based Research
www.whrn.ca
Downloadable

Conference Reports
Aging Well in Northern, Rural and
Remote Communities
Promoting Active Aging by Connecting
BC Researchers and Communities
Gender, Gerontology and Geography
The Assisted Living Model
www.bcnar.ca

Health Data Links –The Source
www.womenshealthdata.ca

Health Data Links –The Source
www.womenshealthdata.ca

Grey Literature Search
www.womenshealthdata.ca

Peer Reviewed Publications Database
www.bcnar.ca

Searchable Member Database
www.whrn.ca
www.bcnar.ca

Online Meetings for Network Members
WHRN and BCNAR members have access to WebEx for free longdistance
telephone and internet‐based meetings.

Resources Available
Downloadable podcasts
Announcements about
events, jobs, funding and
publications

Resources Available

Become a Member (FREE)

Become a Member (FREE)

Goals
By the end of the workshop participants will be able to:
• articulate the potential of community
based research
• feel inspired to consider research
questions that emerge from their work
• identify potential collaborators
• seek out resources to support them in
pursuing their research questions
www.whrn.ca
www.bcnar.ca