Ethical challenges in participatory research: A circumpolar perspective

Interest and experience in participatory research projects has been growing for some time in the North, yet lessons learned from these complex and still evolving community campus partnerships are still rarely shared. Yet, as many know who have been engaged in such partnerships, it is often the process of engagement between diverse partners, and the local strategies created to address inevitable tensions that arise within such collaborations, which give rise to deeper understandings of shared health issues, and support novel interventions and outcomes. The recognition of potential ethical challenges unique to this type of engaged, adaptable and flexible community research is also growing, but this too is still fairly rare in the literature. A Special Issue of the International Journal of Circumpolar Health was planned and implemented in 2010-2012. The original intent and call was for original research papers, as well as expository and survey papers that should inform our shared understanding of at least one of the following aspects of Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR), with a particular focus on northern communities and projects:Defining partnerships and communities;Issue identification;Data collection and methods;Interpretation and dissemination of results;Social action/advocacy; and Ethical challenges and lessons learned. This presentation will share the experience of planning and publishing this Special Issue, including the challenge of building the evidence-base for informed and collaborative research in our sparsely populated and culturally diverse region, and contributing to the growing global discussions about participatory research partnerships' capacity to improve health outcomes and decrease health disparities.