Zimmerman Emily B, Rafie Carlin, Wenzel Sophie G, Hosig Kathryn, Villani Domenique, Dance Jon, Lee Samantha S
Center on Society and Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
Res Involv Engagem. 2024 Jul 19;10(1):74. doi: 10.1186/s40900-024-00612-z.
Involving stakeholders in the research process facilitates collaboration, increasing understanding of factors influencing their wellbeing and motivating community action. Currently, there is a need for randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effectiveness of community-engaged research approaches for health, well-being, and engagement outcomes. In this study, we evaluate the effectiveness of both the SEED Method and a modified Delphi method in a participatory project to develop local strategies to address the opioid epidemic in three rural communities. The purpose of this study is to increase the level of evidence for community-engaged research methods through a randomized controlled trial.
Two communities will use the SEED Method and one will use a modified Delphi method. We aim to recruit a total of 144 participants (48 per community). The evaluation team will randomize participants to an intervention group or a control group. In addition, we will collect outcome data from the participatory research team members leading the projects in each county (n = 18) and from additional community members who participate in focus groups (n = 32). The primary outcome for all participants will be the change in self-reported civic engagement as measured by the total score on the Individual Mobilization Scale.
In the context of participatory action to address opioid misuse in rural counties, this study will provide an understanding of the effectiveness of two community engagement methods for increasing civic engagement, as well as the extent to which participants successfully create locally tailored action strategies. The study will also explore how the observed effects differ depending on the participant's role in the project (stakeholder participant, community research team member, or focus group participant), which is an important consideration for participatory research.
让利益相关者参与研究过程有助于促进合作，增进对影响其福祉因素的理解，并激发社区行动。目前，需要通过随机对照试验来评估社区参与式研究方法对健康、福祉和参与成果的有效性。在本研究中，我们评估了种子方法（SEED Method）和改良德尔菲法在一个参与式项目中的有效性，该项目旨在制定地方策略以应对三个农村社区的阿片类药物流行问题。本研究的目的是通过随机对照试验提高社区参与式研究方法的证据水平。
两个社区将使用种子方法，一个社区将使用改良德尔菲法。我们的目标是总共招募144名参与者（每个社区48名）。评估团队将把参与者随机分配到干预组或对照组。此外，我们将从每个县领导项目的参与式研究团队成员（n = 18）以及参与焦点小组的其他社区成员（n = 32）收集结果数据。所有参与者的主要结果将是通过个人动员量表总分衡量的自我报告公民参与度的变化。
在农村县解决阿片类药物滥用的参与式行动背景下，本研究将提供对两种社区参与方法在提高公民参与度方面有效性的理解，以及参与者成功制定本地定制行动策略的程度。该研究还将探讨观察到的效果如何因参与者在项目中的角色（利益相关者参与者、社区研究团队成员或焦点小组参与者）而有所不同，这是参与式研究的一个重要考虑因素。
