Department of Medicine, University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care. 2021 Sep;9(1). doi: 10.1136/bmjdrc-2021-002154.
Participatory research is a study method that engages patients in research programs, ideally from study design through to dissemination. It is not commonly used in diabetes health services research. Our objectives were to describe the process and challenges of conducting a participatory research project and to highlight the experiences of both patient co-researchers and academic researchers.
We recruited people with lived experience of homelessness (PWLEH) and diabetes in Toronto, Canada to become patient co-researchers. They were asked to commit to attending biweekly meetings. We undertook two major research projects: concept mapping to choose a research focus; and photovoice to explore accessing healthy food while homeless. We used a convergent mixed-methods design to evaluate their experience.
A diverse group of eight PWLEH had an average attendance of 82% over 21 meetings-despite this success, we encountered a number of challenges of conducting this research: funding, ethics approval and recruitment were particularly difficult. Group members reported that participation improved their ability to self-advocate in their diabetes care and provided them with tangible skills and social benefits. Group members stated that they valued being involved in all aspects of the research, in particular knowledge translation activities, including advocating for nutritious food at shelters; presenting to stakeholders; and meeting with policymakers.
The use of participatory research methods enables academic researchers to support community members in pursuing research that is pertinent to them and which has a positive impact. In our study, co-researchers contributed in meaningful ways and also valued the experience.
参与式研究是一种让患者参与研究项目的研究方法，理想情况下从研究设计到传播都能让患者参与。它在糖尿病健康服务研究中并不常用。我们的目标是描述开展参与式研究项目的过程和挑战，并强调患者共同研究者和学术研究人员的经验。
我们在加拿大多伦多招募了有流浪经历（PWLEH）和糖尿病的人成为患者共同研究者。他们被要求承诺参加两周一次的会议。我们进行了两个主要的研究项目：概念图以选择研究重点；以及摄影作品，以探索无家可归者获得健康食品的情况。我们使用了一种收敛混合方法设计来评估他们的经验。
一个由八名 PWLEH 组成的多元化群体平均出席率为 82%，共参加了 21 次会议——尽管取得了这一成功，我们在进行这项研究时遇到了一些挑战：资金、伦理审批和招聘特别困难。小组成员报告说，参与提高了他们在糖尿病护理中自我倡导的能力，并为他们提供了切实的技能和社会福利。小组成员表示，他们重视参与研究的各个方面，特别是知识转化活动，包括在收容所倡导提供营养食品；向利益相关者展示；并与政策制定者会面。
使用参与式研究方法使学术研究人员能够支持社区成员开展与他们相关且具有积极影响的研究。在我们的研究中，共同研究者以有意义的方式做出了贡献，他们也很重视这一经历。
