Using Citizen Science Within an Integrated Knowledge Translation (IKT) Approach to Explore Cardiovascular Disease Risk Perception in Rwanda

Abstract

BackgroundCollaborative approaches to generating knowledge between knowledge users (KUs) and researchers as a means of enhancing evidence-informed decision making have been gaining ground over the last few years. The principal study targeted rural and urban communities within the catchment areas of Cyanika health centre (Burera district, Northern Province) and Kacyiru health centre (Gasabo district, in City of Kigali), respectively to understand perceptions and preferences of communication with respect to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in Rwanda. This paper describes the integration of citizen science within an integrated knowledge translation (IKT) approach for this study.MethodsThe citizen science approach included deliberate, selective and targeted engagement of KUs at various steps throughout the study. It incorporated national and district levels stakeholders, primary health care stakeholders, local community leaders and influencers, and local community members (selected and trained to be termed citizen scientists) in the process of implementation. Data for this paper included minutes, reports and notes from meetings and workshops which were perused to report the immediate outcomes and challenges of citizen science within an IKT approach for a study such as described for Rwanda.ResultsAs a result of a deliberate IKT strategy, key national stakeholders attended and contributed to all phases of citizen science implementation. Project-based and relationship-based immediate outcomes were documented. In line with local community health issues reported by the citizen scientists, the local community stakeholders pledged home grown solutions. These included enhancement of compliance to implement the “kitchen garden per household” policy, teaching local residents on preparation of healthy diet from locally available food items, organizing collective physical activity, fighting against locally made substandard beverages and teaching local residents on CVD (risk factors). As an indicator of the probable uptake of research evidence, district officials appreciated citizen scientists’ work and decided to consider presented results in their next fiscal year action plan.ConclusionCitizen science proved to be an important strategy for research co-production in Rwanda. While this strategy falls within the remit of a larger IKT approach it focuses on the role and ownership of research by local community residents. This study demonstrated that to improve the relevance and impact of research in local community a deliberate IKT approach that incorporates citizen science can be invaluable.

Multi-country collaborative citizen science projects to co-design cardiovascular disease prevention strategies and advocacy: findings from Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, and South Africa

“…In all the countries, the project teams worked hard to embed citizen science into their CEBHA + -supported integrated knowledge translation (IKT) strategy, resulting in robust stakeholders’ engagements, data demand and information use, and policy dialogue [ 31 ]. Specifically, in Ethiopia and Rwanda, our collaborative citizen science project proved to be an important strategy for research co-design and solution co-production.…”

“…This study is among the first examples of a large scale citizen science project systematically implemented across multiple communities in several SSA countries. It leveraged co-design and community engagement approaches to generate rich, country-specific data to inform decision making targeting the prevention of CVD [ 24 , 31 ]. The main findings were: i) the perceived causes of CVD in all the countries were similar, but participants unexpectedly emphasised other indirect factors (such as litter, poverty, substance abuse, crime, violence, stress, loss of job/relative) which were not consistent with most conventional causes of CVD (i.e., physical activity, diet, cholesterol, lifestyle, and hereditary factors).…”

“…They also supported data collection and analysis, and supported the advocacy workshops involving stakeholders in each community. In Rwanda, for example, the citizen scientists and the stakeholders (considered as data users) were involved in planned co-designing activities to achieve set integrated knowledge translation (IKT) results as seen in Table 1 [ 31 ]. Findings from the Rwandan arm of the study had informed the implementation of the study in the other countries.…”

Multi-country collaborative citizen science projects to co-design cardiovascular disease prevention strategies and advocacy: findings from Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, and South Africa

“…The citizen scientists facilitated prioritization of the key ndings and their implications and additionally led the presentation and discussion of these results with the stakeholders during advocacy workshops. In Rwanda, for example, the Citizen scientists and the stakeholders (considered as data users) were involved in planned co-designing activities using citizen science processes towards achieving set integrated knowledge translation (IKT) results as seen in Table 1 (33).…”

Integrated Knowledge Translation in Non-Communicable Disease Research in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Comparison of Systematic and Ad Hoc Stakeholder Engagement

“…The IKT strategy was instrumental for the initiation of specific research activities and played a vital role in the uptake of these research findings. In Rwanda, the IKT approach was coupled with a community citizen science approach in one of the implemented research projects as described by Niyibizi et al (34).…”