‘You want to deal with power while riding on power’: global perspectives on power in participatory health research and co-production approaches
Introduction Power relations permeate research partnerships and compromise the ability of participatory research approaches to bring about transformational and sustainable change. This study aimed to explore how participatory health researchers engaged in co-production research perceive and experien...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2021-11-01
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| Series: | BMJ Global Health |
| Online Access: | https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/11/e006978.full |
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| author | Maria Roura Bachera Aktar Emily Zimmerman Ivy Chumo Robinson Karuga Kim Ozano Apurvakumar Pandya Sónia Dias Jessica Amegee Quach Tara Tancred Beatrice R Egid Guillermo Hegel Laundette Jones Luret Lar Yaimie López Theresa C Norton Payam Sheikhattari Nina Wallerstein |
| author_facet | Maria Roura Bachera Aktar Emily Zimmerman Ivy Chumo Robinson Karuga Kim Ozano Apurvakumar Pandya Sónia Dias Jessica Amegee Quach Tara Tancred Beatrice R Egid Guillermo Hegel Laundette Jones Luret Lar Yaimie López Theresa C Norton Payam Sheikhattari Nina Wallerstein |
| author_sort | Maria Roura |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction Power relations permeate research partnerships and compromise the ability of participatory research approaches to bring about transformational and sustainable change. This study aimed to explore how participatory health researchers engaged in co-production research perceive and experience ‘power’, and how it is discussed and addressed within the context of research partnerships.Methods Five online workshops were carried out with participatory health researchers working in different global contexts. Transcripts of the workshops were analysed thematically against the ‘Social Ecology of Power’ framework and mapped at the micro (individual), meso (interpersonal) or macro (structural) level.Results A total of 59 participants, with participatory experience in 24 different countries, attended the workshops. At the micro level, key findings included the rarity of explicit discussions on the meaning and impact of power, the use of reflexivity for examining assumptions and power differentials, and the perceived importance of strengthening co-researcher capacity to shift power. At the meso level, participants emphasised the need to manage co-researcher expectations, create spaces for trusted dialogue, and consider the potential risks faced by empowered community partners. Participants were divided over whether gatekeeper engagement aided the research process or acted to exclude marginalised groups from participating. At the macro level, colonial and ‘traditional’ research legacies were acknowledged to have generated and maintained power inequities within research partnerships.Conclusions The ‘Social Ecology of Power’ framework is a useful tool for engaging with power inequities that cut across the social ecology, highlighting how they can operate at the micro, meso and macro level. This study reiterates that power is pervasive, and that while many researchers are intentional about engaging with power, actions and available tools must be used more systematically to identify and address power imbalances in participatory research partnerships, in order to contribute to improved equity and social justice outcomes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e31d134c44e84f9e95e05c6abadf7043 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2059-7908 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Global Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-e31d134c44e84f9e95e05c6abadf70432025-08-20T01:59:22ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Global Health2059-79082021-11-0161110.1136/bmjgh-2021-006978‘You want to deal with power while riding on power’: global perspectives on power in participatory health research and co-production approachesMaria Roura0Bachera Aktar1Emily Zimmerman2Ivy Chumo3Robinson Karuga4Kim Ozano5Apurvakumar Pandya6Sónia Dias7Jessica Amegee Quach8Tara Tancred9Beatrice R Egid10Guillermo Hegel11Laundette Jones12Luret Lar13Yaimie López14Theresa C Norton15Payam Sheikhattari16Nina Wallerstein17School of Public Health, University College Cork, Cork, IrelandBRAC University James P Grant School of Public Health, Dhaka, BangladeshCenter on Society and Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USAResearch Division, APHRC, Nairobi, KenyaLVCT, Nairobi, Kenya3 Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UKParul Institute of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Parul University, Vadodara, Gujarat, IndiaNOVA National School of Public Health, Public Health Research Centre, Universidade Nova de Lisboa and Comprehensive Health Research Centre, Lisboa, Portugal1 Department of International Public Health, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UKLiverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UKDepartment of Vector Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UKINCAP Research Center for Prevention of Chronic Diseases, Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama, Guatemala City, GuatemalaSchool of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, USADepartment of Community Medicine, University of Jos, Jos, NigeriaDepartment of Vector Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UKIndependent Researcher, Baltimore, Maryland, USASchool of Community Health and Policy, Prevention Sciences Research Center, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland, USACenter for Participatory Research, College of Population Health, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USAIntroduction Power relations permeate research partnerships and compromise the ability of participatory research approaches to bring about transformational and sustainable change. This study aimed to explore how participatory health researchers engaged in co-production research perceive and experience ‘power’, and how it is discussed and addressed within the context of research partnerships.Methods Five online workshops were carried out with participatory health researchers working in different global contexts. Transcripts of the workshops were analysed thematically against the ‘Social Ecology of Power’ framework and mapped at the micro (individual), meso (interpersonal) or macro (structural) level.Results A total of 59 participants, with participatory experience in 24 different countries, attended the workshops. At the micro level, key findings included the rarity of explicit discussions on the meaning and impact of power, the use of reflexivity for examining assumptions and power differentials, and the perceived importance of strengthening co-researcher capacity to shift power. At the meso level, participants emphasised the need to manage co-researcher expectations, create spaces for trusted dialogue, and consider the potential risks faced by empowered community partners. Participants were divided over whether gatekeeper engagement aided the research process or acted to exclude marginalised groups from participating. At the macro level, colonial and ‘traditional’ research legacies were acknowledged to have generated and maintained power inequities within research partnerships.Conclusions The ‘Social Ecology of Power’ framework is a useful tool for engaging with power inequities that cut across the social ecology, highlighting how they can operate at the micro, meso and macro level. This study reiterates that power is pervasive, and that while many researchers are intentional about engaging with power, actions and available tools must be used more systematically to identify and address power imbalances in participatory research partnerships, in order to contribute to improved equity and social justice outcomes.https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/11/e006978.full |
| spellingShingle | Maria Roura Bachera Aktar Emily Zimmerman Ivy Chumo Robinson Karuga Kim Ozano Apurvakumar Pandya Sónia Dias Jessica Amegee Quach Tara Tancred Beatrice R Egid Guillermo Hegel Laundette Jones Luret Lar Yaimie López Theresa C Norton Payam Sheikhattari Nina Wallerstein ‘You want to deal with power while riding on power’: global perspectives on power in participatory health research and co-production approaches BMJ Global Health |
| title | ‘You want to deal with power while riding on power’: global perspectives on power in participatory health research and co-production approaches |
| title_full | ‘You want to deal with power while riding on power’: global perspectives on power in participatory health research and co-production approaches |
| title_fullStr | ‘You want to deal with power while riding on power’: global perspectives on power in participatory health research and co-production approaches |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘You want to deal with power while riding on power’: global perspectives on power in participatory health research and co-production approaches |
| title_short | ‘You want to deal with power while riding on power’: global perspectives on power in participatory health research and co-production approaches |
| title_sort | you want to deal with power while riding on power global perspectives on power in participatory health research and co production approaches |
| url | https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/11/e006978.full |
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