Actualizing community–academic partnerships in research: a case study on rural perinatal peer support

Plain English summary Co-production is an approach to research where community partners and academic researchers work together to carry out a study. Our co-production team was made up of a community partner with lived experience of accessing mental health supports in rural areas, and academic resear...

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Main Authors: April Hards, Audrey Cameron, Eva Sullivan, Jude Kornelsen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2022-12-01
Series:Research Involvement and Engagement
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-022-00407-0
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author April Hards
Audrey Cameron
Eva Sullivan
Jude Kornelsen
author_facet April Hards
Audrey Cameron
Eva Sullivan
Jude Kornelsen
author_sort April Hards
collection DOAJ
description Plain English summary Co-production is an approach to research where community partners and academic researchers work together to carry out a study. Our co-production team was made up of a community partner with lived experience of accessing mental health supports in rural areas, and academic researchers experienced in health systems design. Co-production emphasizes both the wisdom of lived experience and the importance of scientific approaches. What emerges is research that is both rigorous and authentic. While this form of patient partner research involvement is growing, few studies describe the process of collaboration. To address this gap, we present a case study of how university researchers worked with a patient partner on a project about mental health services for childbearing people in rural communities. The team worked together at every step, from initial study design, to reaching out to participants, reviewing the data, and writing the paper. We agreed our approach would be guided by principles such as respect for all viewpoints, speaking truth, attention to the process, and ensuring that everyone’s contributions were given equal weight. The academic researchers and the community partner identified many common themes in the data. The community partner also emphasized patient experiences of unequal treatment by health care providers. The academic researchers focused on the lack of access to perinatal mental health supports. Exploring differences in perspectives like this allowed for richer interpretation of the findings. This case study offers useful insight into the value of co-production and the important role of lived experience in improving health systems.
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spelling doaj.art-197df31fb4c74e38b8ee6bc62a30cf412022-12-25T12:33:42ZengBMCResearch Involvement and Engagement2056-75292022-12-018111010.1186/s40900-022-00407-0Actualizing community–academic partnerships in research: a case study on rural perinatal peer supportApril HardsAudrey Cameron0Eva Sullivan1Jude Kornelsen2Centre for Rural Health Research, Department of Family Practice, University of British ColumbiaCentre for Rural Health Research, Department of Family Practice, University of British ColumbiaCentre for Rural Health Research, Department of Family Practice, University of British ColumbiaPlain English summary Co-production is an approach to research where community partners and academic researchers work together to carry out a study. Our co-production team was made up of a community partner with lived experience of accessing mental health supports in rural areas, and academic researchers experienced in health systems design. Co-production emphasizes both the wisdom of lived experience and the importance of scientific approaches. What emerges is research that is both rigorous and authentic. While this form of patient partner research involvement is growing, few studies describe the process of collaboration. To address this gap, we present a case study of how university researchers worked with a patient partner on a project about mental health services for childbearing people in rural communities. The team worked together at every step, from initial study design, to reaching out to participants, reviewing the data, and writing the paper. We agreed our approach would be guided by principles such as respect for all viewpoints, speaking truth, attention to the process, and ensuring that everyone’s contributions were given equal weight. The academic researchers and the community partner identified many common themes in the data. The community partner also emphasized patient experiences of unequal treatment by health care providers. The academic researchers focused on the lack of access to perinatal mental health supports. Exploring differences in perspectives like this allowed for richer interpretation of the findings. This case study offers useful insight into the value of co-production and the important role of lived experience in improving health systems.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-022-00407-0Collaborative researchPatient partner involvementCo-productionPerinatalMental healthRural
spellingShingle April Hards
Audrey Cameron
Eva Sullivan
Jude Kornelsen
Actualizing community–academic partnerships in research: a case study on rural perinatal peer support
Research Involvement and Engagement
Collaborative research
Patient partner involvement
Co-production
Perinatal
Mental health
Rural
title Actualizing community–academic partnerships in research: a case study on rural perinatal peer support
title_full Actualizing community–academic partnerships in research: a case study on rural perinatal peer support
title_fullStr Actualizing community–academic partnerships in research: a case study on rural perinatal peer support
title_full_unstemmed Actualizing community–academic partnerships in research: a case study on rural perinatal peer support
title_short Actualizing community–academic partnerships in research: a case study on rural perinatal peer support
title_sort actualizing community academic partnerships in research a case study on rural perinatal peer support
topic Collaborative research
Patient partner involvement
Co-production
Perinatal
Mental health
Rural
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-022-00407-0
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