Material practices for meaningful engagement: An analysis of participatory learning and action research techniques for data generation and analysis in a health research partnership

Abstract

BackgroundThe material practices which researchers use in research partnerships may enable or constrain the nature of engagement with stakeholder groups. Participatory learning and action (PLA) research approaches show promise, but there has been no detailed analysis of stakeholders’ and researchers’ experiences of PLA techniques for data generation and co‐analysis.ObjectivesTo explore stakeholders’ and researchers’ experiences of PLA techniques for data generation and co‐analysis.DesignThe EU RESTORE implementation science project employed a participatory approach to investigate and support the implementation of guidelines and training initiatives (GTIs) to enhance communication in cross‐cultural primary care consultations. We developed a purposeful sample of 78 stakeholders (migrants, general practice staff, community interpreters, service providers, service planners) from primary care settings in Austria, England, Greece, Ireland and The Netherlands. We used speed evaluations and participatory evaluations to explore their experiences of two PLA techniques—Commentary Charts and Direct Ranking—which were intended to generate data for co‐analysis by stakeholders about the GTIs under analysis. We evaluated 16 RESTORE researchers’ experiences using interviews. We conducted thematic and content analysis of all evaluation data.Results PLA Commentary Charts and Direct Ranking techniques, with their visual, verbal and tangible nature and inherent analytical capabilities, were found to be powerful tools for involving stakeholders in a collaborative analysis of GTIs. Stakeholders had few negative experiences and numerous multifaceted positive experiences of meaningful engagement, which resonated with researchers’ accounts.Conclusion PLA techniques and approaches are valuable as material practices in health research partnerships.

Brazilian youth experiencing poverty: Everyday life in the favela

“…Research based on a critical perspective, involved with the reality of study, has been defended in the academia (Farias et al, 2016;Ravenek & Laliberte Rudman, 2013), as well as participatory studies which consider the actors as collaborators and builders of the knowledge under discussion (Little, 2017;O'Reilly-de Brún et al, 2018). Based on this framework, through a critical perspective, data in this study were generated from participatory workshops conducted with young people.…”

Implementing community participation via interdisciplinary teams in primary care: An Irish case study in practice

“…PLA focus groups involve the use of PLA techniques with inherent visual and analytic techniques. They were valuable because they allowed community representatives’ perspectives to be shared across and between participants and for preliminary data analysis to be conducted in a collaborative and participatory fashion . see Box 2.…”

Participatory implementation research in the field of migrant health: Sustainable changes and ripple effects over time

“…This enables their authentic perspectives to emerge clearly in research outcomes. 18,19 The approach requires a specific PLA mode of engagement, which promotes values of reciprocity, mutual respect, co-operation and dialogue within and across diverse stakeholder groups. 20 PLA techniques (see Table 2) are inclusive and user-friendly.…”

“…These can be incorporated into interviews and focus groups in primary care research. 19,[21][22][23] The EU-funded project RESTORE (REsearch into implementation STrategies to support patients of different ORigins and language background in a variety of European primary care settings; summarized in Table 3) combined NPT and PLA to investigate and support implementation of guidelines and training initiatives to improve communication in primary care with migrants who are not fluent in the language of their host country. 7,11,12,24,25 There was evidence of positive changes to attitudes, knowledge and behaviour in practice settings 12 (see Table 3).…”