Rehabilitative and Social Medicine Unit, Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria
Ending Child Marriage Through Community-led Media Series (ENCASE) Project, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria.
BMJ Glob Health. 2024 Sep 5;9(9):e015068. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2024-015068.
Effective community entry processes influence community participation and acceptance of public health interventions. Though there is a growing body of literature on the importance of community partnerships, there is a lack of pragmatic and practical documentation of the experiences involved in the community entry process as it relates to culturally sensitive topics such as child marriage which can help to support researchers working in this field. This article highlights key themes related to knowledge of the community, effective communication, cultural sensitivity, coproduction and giving feedback which help to build trust between the community members and the research team. Institutional representation, not managing expectations, and lack of clarity, along with personal opinions of community gatekeepers can create challenges for the fostering of trustworthy relationships with the community. These realities must be actively addressed right at the onset of the process between the research team and community stakeholders. Researchers can develop trust, form connections and engage different communities by working with local groups and leaders, using culturally appropriate methods, and addressing community concerns. Future projects working with communities on child marriage in Nigeria and other countries would benefit from the reflections presented in this paper.
有效的社区进入过程会影响社区对公共卫生干预措施的参与和接受程度。尽管关于社区伙伴关系重要性的文献越来越多，但在涉及儿童婚姻等敏感文化话题的社区进入过程中，缺乏有关经验的实用和实际记录，这些记录可以帮助支持在该领域工作的研究人员。本文强调了与社区知识、有效沟通、文化敏感性、共同创作和提供反馈相关的关键主题，这些主题有助于在社区成员和研究团队之间建立信任。机构代表、无法管理期望、缺乏明确性以及社区把关人的个人意见会给与社区建立可信赖关系带来挑战。在研究团队和社区利益相关者之间，这些现实问题必须在该过程一开始就得到积极解决。研究人员可以通过与当地团体和领导人合作、使用文化上合适的方法以及解决社区关注的问题，来建立信任、建立联系并吸引不同的社区。未来在尼日利亚和其他国家与社区合作开展儿童婚姻项目的工作将受益于本文提出的思考。
