Pritchard Rebecca, Darko Natalie, Stevenson Elizabeth
BMTO, Old Medical School, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9AG, UK.
NIHR Leicester BRC, Leicester Diabetes Centre, Leicester General Hospital, University of Leicester, Gwendolen Road, Leicester, LE5 4PW, UK.
Res Involv Engagem. 2024 Aug 2;10(1):79. doi: 10.1186/s40900-024-00616-9.
The Dance and Health project aimed to promote public involvement in health research. Public involvement leads worked with project partner community groups, Aakash Odedra Dance Company and Moving Together, to develop a community engagement project with people living in low-socioeconomic areas/deprivation and diverse ethnic minority groups. Dance and Health included a weekly 60-min dance class and 30 min of facilitated health science discussion, that could either be a public involvement discussion for a research project, an activity about a particular biomedical research theme or ongoing discussions with a visiting researcher. The goal of this paper is to explore the impact of the Dance and Health project on the social capital of participants and provide key learnings on how to engage and build partnerships with people from underserved groups in health research contexts.
Qualitative interviews and focus groups were completed which explored participant and dance tutor experiences in community venues. Participants were aged between 22 and 90, most were female and were from Asian ethnic minority groups and White British groups living in deprived neighbourhoods in Leicester. Qualitative data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.
The responses to the Dance and Health project were positive across all the focus groups. Central themes identified were Feedback on the Project, Motivation to Exercise, Criticism of the NHS, Mental Wellbeing, Engagement in a Post Pandemic New Normal, Accessibility and Inclusivity, Empowerment and Building Social Capital.
The focus groups evidenced that the project had broad impact. Participants expressed empowerment and ownership and described a range of social capital enrichment generated through the project including networks and friendships, access to the institutional resource of health science, and the opportunity to engage with a health and leisure activity that was valued and meaningful.
“舞蹈与健康”项目旨在促进公众参与健康研究。公众参与工作与项目合作伙伴社区团体、阿卡什·奥德拉舞蹈公司和“一起行动”合作，与生活在社会经济地位较低地区/贫困地区的人群以及不同的少数族裔群体共同开展了一个社区参与项目。“舞蹈与健康”项目包括每周一次的60分钟舞蹈课程和30分钟的健康科学促进讨论，讨论内容可以是某个研究项目的公众参与讨论、关于某个特定生物医学研究主题的活动，或者是与来访研究人员的持续讨论。本文的目的是探讨“舞蹈与健康”项目对参与者社会资本的影响，并提供关于如何在健康研究背景下与服务不足群体的人员建立合作关系的关键经验教训。
完成了定性访谈和焦点小组讨论，探讨了参与者和舞蹈教师在社区场所的经历。参与者年龄在22岁至90岁之间，大多数为女性，来自亚洲少数族裔群体和居住在莱斯特贫困社区的英国白人团体。使用定性内容分析法对定性数据进行了分析。
所有焦点小组对“舞蹈与健康”项目的反馈都是积极的。确定的核心主题包括对项目的反馈、锻炼的动机、对国民保健制度的批评、心理健康、参与疫情后的新常态、可及性和包容性、赋权以及建立社会资本。
焦点小组证明该项目产生了广泛影响。参与者表达了赋权感和主人翁意识，并描述了通过该项目产生的一系列社会资本丰富成果，包括网络和友谊、获取健康科学的机构资源，以及参与一项有价值且有意义的健康和休闲活动的机会。
