Resuscitation & Emergency Care Research Unit, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, Australia.
The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Smithfield, QLD, Australia.
Int J Equity Health. 2022 Jan 10;21(1):2. doi: 10.1186/s12939-021-01604-1.
An Aboriginal-developed empowerment and social and emotional wellbeing program, known as Family Wellbeing (FWB), has been found to strengthen the protective factors that help Indigenous Australians to deal with the legacy of colonisation and intergenerational trauma. This article reviews the research that has accompanied the implementation of the program, over a 23 year period. The aim is to assess the long-term impact of FWB research and identify the key enablers of research impact and the limitations of the impact assessment exercise. This will inform more comprehensive monitoring of research impact into the future.
To assess impact, the study took an implementation science approach, incorporating theory of change and service utilisation frameworks, to create a logic model underpinned by Indigenous research principles. A research impact narrative was developed based on mixed methods analysis of publicly available data on: 1) FWB program participation; 2) research program funding; 3) program outcome evaluation (nine studies); and 4) accounts of research utilisation (seven studies).
Starting from a need for research on empowerment identified by research users, an investment of $2.3 million in research activities over 23 years produced a range of research outputs that evidenced social and emotional wellbeing benefits arising from participation in the FWB program. Accounts of research utilisation confirmed the role of research outputs in educating participants about the program, and thus, facilitating more demand (and funding acquisition) for FWB. Overall research contributed to 5,405 recorded participants accessing the intervention. The key enablers of research impact were; 1) the research was user- and community-driven; 2) a long-term mutually beneficial partnership between research users and researchers; 3) the creation of a body of knowledge that demonstrated the impact of the FWB intervention via different research methods; 4) the universality of the FWB approach which led to widespread application.
The FWB research impact exercise reinforced the view that assessing research impact is best approached as a "wicked problem" for which there are no easy fixes. It requires flexible, open-ended, collaborative learning-by-doing approaches to build the evidence base over time. Steps and approaches that research groups might take to build the research impact knowledge base within their disciplines are discussed.
一项由原住民开发的赋权和社会情感健康计划，称为家庭幸福（FWB），已被发现可增强保护因素，帮助澳大利亚原住民应对殖民和代际创伤的遗留问题。本文回顾了该计划实施 23 年来伴随的研究。目的是评估 FWB 研究的长期影响，并确定研究影响的关键促成因素和影响评估工作的局限性。这将为未来更全面地监测研究影响提供信息。
为了评估影响，该研究采用实施科学方法，纳入变革理论和服务利用框架，为基于原住民研究原则的逻辑模型提供支持。根据以下方面的混合方法分析，制定了研究影响叙述：1）FWB 计划参与情况；2）研究计划资助；3）计划结果评估（九项研究）；和 4）研究利用情况的说明（七项研究）。
从研究用户确定的赋权研究需求出发，在 23 年内投资 230 万美元开展研究活动，产生了一系列研究成果，证明了参与 FWB 计划可带来社会和情感健康益处。研究利用情况说明证实了研究成果在教育参与者了解该计划方面的作用，从而促进了对 FWB 的更多需求（和资金获取）。总体而言，研究共促成了 5405 名记录在册的参与者接受干预。研究影响的关键促成因素是：1）研究是用户和社区驱动的；2）研究用户和研究人员之间长期互利的合作伙伴关系；3）通过不同的研究方法，创建了一个展示 FWB 干预影响的知识体系；4）FWB 方法的普遍性导致了广泛的应用。
FWB 研究影响的实施强化了这样一种观点，即评估研究影响最好被视为一个“棘手问题”，没有简单的解决办法。它需要灵活、开放式、协作式的边做边学方法，随着时间的推移建立证据基础。讨论了研究小组在其学科内建立研究影响知识库可以采取的步骤和方法。
