 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Monica L. Wendel, MA, MPH1, James N Burdine, Dr PH1, Michael R.J. Felix2, Coleman Chandler, MPH3, Rachel Annette Summers3, Sanu Somachandran, MPH1, Jay Jezierski, MPH1, and Julie Ann Parrish, MA3. (1) Community Health Development Program, School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M University, 1103 University Drive, Suite 100, College Station, TX 77840, 979-458-0937, mlwendel@srph.tamushsc.edu, (2) Michael Felix and Associates, Walburt Ave, Allentown, PA 77802, (3) School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M University System, 1103 University Drive, Suite 100, College Station, TX 77840
The public health discipline has recently focused much attention on participatory research—involving the community in health planning activities, implementation, and monitoring/evaluation. While this is a noble endeavor, in many cases, public health professionals utilize methods that reach convenient populations rather than those who may have more critical needs. When data gathering involves phone calling, interviewing, paper or web-based surveys, the pool of people who may be included shrinks considerably. Many of these commonly used methods, while they allow for collecting a large volume of data in a relatively short amount of time, also exclude community members who are uneducated, illiterate, poor, homeless, or lack access to technology. Community discussion groups are a method growing in popularity for reaching hard to reach populations. By gathering people in small groups of their peers and facilitating informal conversations to gather specific types of information, barriers that traditionally hinder many people from being heard can be overcome. In addition, local intermediaries serve to bridge gaps that those seeking information may encounter in trust and communication. Through experience in numerous communities across the United States, the Community Health Development Program at the School of Rural Public Health has found this methodology to highlight disparities and to provide insight into data collected by other methods. Community discussion group conversations uncover invaluable data that can positively influence local decision-making and health planning, as well as increase community ownership of changes that take place. While extremely valuable, ethical issues inherent to utilizing this methodology must be considered.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Participatory Research, Ethics
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.