Developing a Family-Centered Participatory Action Research Project

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to illustrate strategies used to design and implement a family-centered, participatory action research (PAR) project to meet the asthma information needs identified by English-, Hmong-, and Spanish-speaking parents of preschool children with asthma enrolled in a multisite, urban Head Start program. PAR is an approach that encourages researchers and those who will benefit from the research (e.g., families and community leaders) to work together in all phases of the project. PAR projects involve two core components: a needs assessment and action plan development. PAR is rooted in the cultural tradition of the participants and builds on strengths and resources in the community. Actively involving family participants and community leaders in community-based PAR projects increases the likelihood of developing interventions and resources that are culturally relevant and address family needs.

How and why should we engage parents as co‐researchers in health research? A scoping review of current practices

“…It is important to note that a substantial body of literature already exists on the topic of patient engagement, including descriptive articles and frameworks, case studies, reports and reviews . This larger body of evidence echoes much of the literature we identified for parent co‐researcher engagement specifically, such as a lack of early engagement, poor quality of evidence and heterogeneity in approaches to engagement.…”

“…The term refers to the act of carrying out research with/by health service users and family members who are not professional researchers, instead of to/about/for them . When engaged as co‐researchers, family members retain an active role and significant control over the course of the research, as well as a collaborative and interdependent relationship with the professional researchers …”

Extending Family Nursing: Concepts From Positive Psychology

“…Family nursing has been in the forefront of advocating for a strengths-based approach that targets a client and/or family's capacities, competencies, and resources (Clausson & Berg, 2008;Erlingsson, 2009;Garwick, & Seppelt, 2010;Feeley & Gottlieb, 2000), and a specific family nursing intervention called "commendations" has been developed to highlight these strengths (Houger Limacher, 2008;Houger Limacher & Wright, 2003Wright & Bell, 2009;Wright & Leahey, 2009). The family nurse attempts to identify, work with, and cultivate the strengths that exist within the family system and surrounding community and does so from a collaborative or partnering relationship.…”

The Family Debate on Values and Living Together: A Community‐based Approach Through Participatory Action Research

“…In the context of family studies the intervention programs based on PAR are not new. Most of the works are related to promoting family health (Valach, Young, & Lynam, ), drug and alcohol abuse (Archidiacono, Velleman, & Procentese, ), deaf children (Napier, Leigh, & Nann, ), asthma (Garwick & Seppelt, ), or more generally family therapy (Cvetek, Repic, Poljak, & Cvetek, ). This kind of programs has been also applied in the context of social work with families at risk (Kildedal, ).…”