A chair at the table: a scoping review of the participation of refugees in community-based participatory research in healthcare

Abstract

Background Refugees often face psychosocial complexity and multi-dimensional healthcare needs. Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) methods have been previously employed in designing health programs for refugee communities and in building strong research partnerships in refugee communities. However, the extent to which these communities are involved remains unknown. Objective To review the evidence on the involvement of refugees in CBPR processes to inform healthcare research. Methods A scoping review was performed, using Arksey & O’Malley’s methodological framework. A literature search in Medline, PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Embase, Global Health, Scopus, and Policy File Index for articles published until August 2020 was conducted. Articles were included if they focused on CBPR, had refugee involvement, and discussed healthcare/health policy. Results 4125 articles were identified in the database searches. After removal of duplicates, 2077 articles underwent title and abstract review by two authors, yielding an inter-reviewer kappa-statistic of 0.85. 14 studies were included in the final analysis. The purpose of CBPR use for 6 (42.9%) of the articles was developing and implementing mental health/social support interventions, 5 (35.7%) focused on sexual and reproductive health interventions, 1 (7.1%) focused on domestic violence interventions, 1 (7.1%) focused on cardiovascular disease prevention and 1 (7.1%) focused on parenting interventions. In terms of refugee involvement in the various stages in the research process, 9 (64.3%) articles reported refugees having a role in the inception of the research, no articles reported including refugees in obtaining funding, all articles included refugees in the design of the research study, 10 (71.4%) articles reported having refugees involved in community engagement/recruitment, 8 (57.1%) articles reported involvement throughout the data collection process, 4 (28.6%) articles reported involvement in data analysis, 6 (42.9%) articles reported having refugees involved in knowledge translation/dissemination and 1 article (7.1%) reported having refugees contribute to scale up initiatives. Conclusions CBPR has been identified as a methodology with the potential to make substantial contributions to improving health and well-being in traditionally disenfranchised populations. As the needs of refugee communities are so diverse, efforts should be made to include refugees as partners in all stages of the research process.

An Integrative Review of Community-Based Mental Health Interventions Among Resettled Refugees from Muslim-Majority Countries

“…As the needs of refugee communities are so diverse, efforts should be made to include refugees as partners in all stages of the research process. In a scoping review of refugee participation in the CBPR, researchers reported refugees having less involvement in data analysis, knowledge translation/dissemination, the inception of the research study, obtaining funding, or contributing to scale up initiatives (Filler et al, 2021 ). Building strong partnerships should also include working with refugees from diverse backgrounds and community members at different stages of the post-resettlement phase (from newly resettled to former refugees).…”

Tracking involvement over time: a longitudinal study of experiences among refugee parents involved as public contributors in health research

“…The findings suggest keeping the same contributors involved over longer periods of time as their trust is likely to increase, and their input improve, over time. A key problem is that projects are limited in time, and so is funding for PPI (Filler et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Refugee involvement in research is one example of involving public contributors from a seldom-heard group (Doná, 2007 ; Filler et al, 2021 ; Gaywood et al, 2020 ; Strokosch & Osborne, 2016 ). In a recent review by Filler et al ( 2021 ), several published examples of refugee involvement in health research were presented.…”

“…Refugee involvement in research is one example of involving public contributors from a seldom-heard group (Doná, 2007 ; Filler et al, 2021 ; Gaywood et al, 2020 ; Strokosch & Osborne, 2016 ). In a recent review by Filler et al ( 2021 ), several published examples of refugee involvement in health research were presented. Yet, the authors call for improvements in refugee involvement throughout the research process; in obtaining funding, data analysis and scale up, and for addressing barriers to refugee involvement.…”

Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on refugee communities in San Diego, California: A participatory action research cross-sectional study

“…These challenges underscore the need to promote upstream structural changes to improve health outcomes in a participatory framework. This participatory approach, particularly with refugee communities, has been inconsistently applied to date ( Filler et al, 2021 ).…”