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Responding to the continuing separation of participants and researchers in LIS participatory research, a new methodology is proposed: action partnership research design (APRD). It is asserted that APRD can mitigate or remove the hierarchical structures often inherent in the research process, thus allowing for equal contribution from all.

Building on the bonded design (BD) methodology and informed by a scoping literature review conducted by the same authors, APRD is a human-centered research approach with the goal of empowering and valuing community partnerships. APRD originates from research investigating the use of participatory design methods to foster collaboration between two potentially disparate groups, firstly with adult researchers/designers and elementary school children, and secondly with university faculty and IT professionals.

To achieve this goal, in addition to BD techniques, APRD draws inspiration from elements of indigenous and decolonization research methodologies, particularly those with an emphasis on destabilizing power hierarchies and involving research participants as full partners.

APRD, which emerged from findings from previous participatory design studies, especially those of BD, is based on the premise of partnership, recognizing that each member of a design team, whether researcher or participant/user, has unique expertise to contribute. By considering participants/users as full research partners, APRD aims to flatten the hierarchies exhibited in some LIS participatory research methodologies, where participants are treated more like research subjects than partners.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the authors own assumptions made as academics using two examples from a research project with an Aboriginal community. The first attempt features a project that silenced the community. Later work engaged the community through tenets of community-based participatory research (CBPR) and a sport development project (SDP).

This project explores a shift from a mainstream qualitative approach steeped in post-positivism to a de-colonizing methodology which opened up a space for a SDP.

Mainstream research methodologies tend to silence marginalized communities and overlook local cultural practices. Effective community programming requires extensive consultation, and an approach that centralizes local voices.

Current understandings are limited to one Aboriginal Reserve.

Recommendations are proposed concerning how researchers might embark on practices that support the reversal of colonization and improve relations among people from two cultures previously in conflict. SDP initiatives and applied sport research grounded in CBPR are proposed as conduits to bettering relations among cultures in conflict.

The reader is provided with an example of how to attain goals of SDP at the local level through cultural praxis and a CBPR methodology.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the development, by incarcerated women who were members of a prison participatory health research team, of a survey tool regarding homelessness and housing, the survey findings and recommendations for policy.

A survey was developed by incarcerated women in a minimum/medium security women's prison in Canada. Associations were examined between socio‐demographic factors and reports of difficulty finding housing upon release, homelessness contributing to a return to crime, and a desire for relocation to another city upon release. Open‐ended questions were examined to look for recurrent themes and to illuminate the survey findings.

In total, 83 women completed the survey, a 72 per cent response rate. Of the 71 who were previously incarcerated, 56 per cent stated that homelessness contributed to their return to crime. Finding housing upon release was a problem for 63 per cent and 34 per cent desired relocation to another city upon release. Women indicated that a successful housing plan should incorporate flexible progressive staged housing.

The present study focuses only on incarcerated women but could be expanded in future to include men.

Incarcerated women used the findings to create a housing proposal for prison leavers and created a resource database of the limited housing resources for women prison leavers.

Lack of suitable housing is a major factor leading to recidivism. This study highlights the reality of the cycle of homelessness, poverty, crime for survival, street‐life leading to drug use and barriers to health, education and employment that incarcerated women face.

Housing is a recognized basic determinant of health. No previous studies have used participatory research to address homelessness in a prison population.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the context of the emergence of a skin infection outbreak in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti and detail the role of community-based participatory research in mobilizing local action in a country with low state capacity.

While implementing a post-disaster study that combined a survey of 984 households and 69 community leaders with 23 focus groups, 60 ethnographic interviews and community mapping, a skin infection outbreak was detected. Using study results, the research team in partnership with different stakeholders responded to the outbreak with a health intervention.

The findings illustrate how pre-existing conditions shape local communities' vulnerability to health crises in the aftermath of disasters and the critical role research can play in informing the recovery processes. Community-based approaches to emergency health reinforced by multi-stakeholder partnerships with local government can strengthen post-disaster response and governance structures setting the groundwork for the development of local resilience.

The health intervention was implemented as a result of the study. Patients served were not derived from the study sample but were self-selected based on their need for skin-related medical treatment.

This article highlights the integral role research can play in identifying the health impacts of disaster events in vulnerable, hard-to-reach communities and strengthening government involvement in disaster governance.

Purpose – A structured comparison, based on underlying social ecological constructs, provides the framework for this preliminary investigation of the commonalities and differences between three emerging approaches to health disparities: community-based participatory research (CBPR), community-focused health outreach (CFHO), and community health promotion programs (CHPP).

Methodology/approach – A conceptual review and preliminary analysis at the macrolevel of major community trends that focus on eliminating health disparity outcomes.

Findings – Each of the three community health approaches share similar purposes using community-focused collaborative efforts, but involve different change agents, levels of partnership, timeframes, social participation, and implementation methodologies.

Research limitations/implications – Additional in-depth literature reviews and meta-evaluations highlighting the contributions of each of the three approaches (CPBR, CFHO, and CHPP) are strongly recommended.

Practical implications – Interested community stakeholders can monitor results and impacts of each of the three approaches within their environments.

Originality/value of paper – Past reviews have concentrated on isolating individual contributing social causes of health disparities. This analysis introduces three emerging trends that currently function within community-based frameworks as potential mechanisms for helping the health disadvantaged.

Current domestic and international research predominantly examines the past experiences of people seeking asylum and the negative influences such experiences have on health and well-being. However, few studies address the future needs of people seeking asylum, as they transition from Direct Provision. This study aims to address this gap in knowledge by exploring the perspectives of women seeking asylum in Ireland on the skills they think they will need, as they transition from Direct Provision to life in Ireland.

A qualitative methodology using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach was used, to collect data collaboratively and sensitively with a vulnerable population group. Convenience sampling was used to recruit six women seeking asylum in Ireland, to participate in focus groups and semi-structured interviews. Data were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.

Women seeking asylum identified four themes of skills for doing, skills for being, skills for becoming and skills for belonging that are necessary for life in Ireland after Direct Provision. Barriers and opportunities to develop these skills were documented as sub-themes. The skills identified under these themes and sub-themes included work, education, driving, childcare, social integration, money management, home management, health management and leisure.

Using participatory methodologies, future research should further explore the skills required for transition from Direct Provision, to continue to raise awareness of the potential for occupational injustice and the role occupational therapists could play in this transitional period.

The purpose of this paper is to explore Indigenous Works’ efforts to facilitate Indigenous-led research that is responsive to the socio-economic needs, values and traditions of Indigenous communities.

This paper is grounded in an Indigenous research paradigm that is facilitated by Indigenous-led community-based participatory action research (PAR) methodology informed by the Two Row Wampum and Two-Eyed Seeing framework to bridge Indigenous science and knowledge systems with western ones.

The findings point to the need for greater focus on how Indigenous and western knowledge may be aligned within the methodological content domain while tackling a wide array of Indigenous research goals that involve non-Indigenous allies.

This paper addresses the need to develop insights and understandings into how to develop a safe, ethical space for Indigenous-led trans-disciplinary and multi-community collaborative research partnerships that contribute to community self-governance and well-being.

Describe the design of a health information and technology educational intervention that promotes health information sharing and technology use for older adult African Americans to support access to health information. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

The study team developed a novel method to design the intervention. It drew upon three approaches: intergenerational technology transfer, participatory design and community-based participatory research.

Older adult African Americans (55+) with diabetes and young adults (18–54) connected to them via familial or naturally occurring social networks designed the intervention, which was conducted in the two study sites in Michigan, USA. In total, 29 participants helped design the intervention. Four themes emerged concerning factors that promote intergenerational information exchange in the context of technology and health. First, focus on one technology skill. Second, working together in small groups is preferred. Third, patience is essential. Last, physical capabilities (i.e., eyesight, operating on relatively small screens) and literacy levels should be considered.

This novel method of having participants from the sample population select the health information materials and technology exercises serves as a guide for implementing health information and education interventions aimed at technology use to support self-management for vulnerable patient populations.

This chapter provides information on the specific programming needs of victims of torture pursuing higher education, and policy and practice guidelines which will support them in that pursuit. This is a community-based participatory action research project that brought together partners who had educational, research, practical, and real-life expertise in working with marginalized groups on this complex issue, with each partner playing an essential and a vital role in the research. A partnership between George Brown College, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the Wellesley Institute, and the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture established this community-based participatory action research project. The project established innovative outreach for people seeking to integrate into Canadian society through education following experiences of torture and war as a means to aid in the meaningful integration of survivors into Canadian society. This work is scalable to other settings (e.g., universities and colleges across Canada) and groups with experiences of marginalization (e.g., Aboriginals, visible minorities, etc.).

The contribution of the built environment within communities plays a significant role in the higher rates of childhood obesity, particularly among black and Hispanic youth. The purpose of this paper is to investigate neighborhood assets and barriers to nutrition and physical activity in an underserved, majority-minority suburban community in New York State, USA using Photovoice, a community-based participatory research method.

Nine local youth took photographs to visually identify the community’s environmental assets and barriers. Through an extensive review and selection of photos and group discussion themes were identified. Final results of the Photovoice project were presented to local policy makers and community members for action.

Participants provided complex and insightful perspectives of health inequalities in the suburbs, including limited access to fresh, healthy food, and safe spaces for physical activity. They also understood that improving nutrition and physical activity practices required policy changes and civic engagement.

This study represented one suburban area of New York, and is not meant to be representative of all suburban areas. However, the findings of environmental barriers to childhood obesity are similar to those found in urban areas, suggesting similarities in low-income communities of color.

This study suggests that Photovoice is an effective way of collaborating between various community stakeholders (particularly youth) in an underserved suburb that can result in community changes.

Besides achieving all three Photovoice goals – recording and reflection, dialogue, and reaching policymakers – the Photovoice project identified a long-standing environmental hazard as a result of the partnerships established between the youth, academic institution, community-based organizations, and residents. This study also identified factors in the built environment that contribute to health disparities in a racially segregated suburban community.