The Drum Beat 632 - Public Engagement with Science

0 comments

Issue #

632

The Drum Beat - 632 - Public Engagement with Science

THIS ISSUE INCLUDES:
BACKGROUND: Public Engagement
A FEW COUNTRY-SPECIFIC EXAMPLES
INVOLVING CHILDREN & YOUTH
BUILDING MEDIA & NGO SKILLS
FOCUS ON IMPACT OF ENGAGEMENT

This issue of The Drum Beat shares strategies, initiatives, resources, and evaluation findings and analysis on the theme of public engagement with science, focusing on low- and middle-income countries around the world. It emerges from a collaboration between The Communication Initiative (The CI) and the Wellcome Trust, whose International Engagement grant scheme supports projects that link to Wellcome-Trust-funded research and researchers to promote dialogue and debate about science. Wellcome's work is underpinned by a belief that for research to flourish, the input of people and society is key. Engagement activities inform research, its process, and its agenda of societal values and thinking as much as these activities inform people about science. The international programme believes that well-designed engagement is such an integral part of high-quality health research that it ought to be of benefit to local communities, especially in low-resource settings.

For an overview of the public engagement concept, see this summary: What Is Public Engagement with Health Research?
All of the summaries included below feature work that was funded by the Wellcome Trust. To learn more about Wellcome Trust's public engagement schemes, click here.
To enhance your access to a large number of public engagement with science summaries collected together on The CI site, please see our NEW theme site.

From The Communication Initiative Network - where communication and media are central to social and economic development.

Please "Like": The Communication Initiative Network Facebook page

You also have the opportunity to vote "Like" on any of the pages visited from the selections below.

Please "Follow" The CI on Twitter - @warrencomminit

Subscribe to The Drum Beat

Click here to access The Drum Beat archives.

A FEW COUNTRY-SPECIFIC HEALTH ENGAGEMENT PROJECTS
1. Becoming Visible: Tackling the Urban Health Divide in Kampala, Uganda
This pilot project aims to address slum health inequity in 3 intersecting ways: (1) increase community participation in creating evidence and knowledge about health needs and express this information more effectively; (2) engage researchers in dialogues about why and how they study the health needs of the urban poor; and (3) engage national health research policymakers in dialogues about increasing health evidence about the urban poor. One activity involves engaging with women's community group partners - using participatory dialogues and group exercises, such as photo stories, to establish community priorities and visions for how to improve health and equitable access to services. [Makerere Women's Development Association, Tusitukirewamu, ActionAid Uganda, Panos Eastern Africa, HEPS-Uganda, Panos London]

2. EMPOWER: Empowering People Affected by Mental Disorders to Promote Wider Engagement with Research
This project involves collaborating with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in 4 countries - India, Kenya, Nepal, and Zambia - to develop public engagement materials to communicate mental health research findings to local audiences. EMPOWER works to strengthen the capacity of these organisations to engage with communities in order to improve understanding of the nature and treatment of mental disorders and to reduce stigma. Example: In Nepal, the project produced a mental health documentary that was designed to sensitise the community and policymakers; the first screening was held in Kathmandu in the presence of law makers, the health secretary, human rights workers, the media, mental health stakeholders, and nationally influential people.

3. Self-Directed Research of Public and Environmental Health Problems by Indigenous People in Suriname
The approach used a combination of Participatory Action Research (PAR) methods in which "Western" researchers became participating observers in an indigenous-led research initiative. The elements of the research process were: (1) outside science experts were issued an invitation by community members to participate in a co-directed study; (2) community members co-developed a research plan according to appropriate scientific procedures and traditional cultural norms; (3) data were collected by trained community members; (4) data were owned and interpreted by community members; and (5) community members made the final determination for the disposition of research results according to traditional decision-making processes. [Stichting Wadeken Wasjibon Maria (SWWM) and Suriname Indigenous Health Fund (SIHF)]

[top]

INVOLVING CHILDREN AND YOUTH WITH RESEARCH
4. Ubumbano Lwentsha: Placing Youth at the Forefront to Improve Community Engagement in Research and Dissemination of Research Findings in Rural South Africa
This project used a sports-based community youth mobilisation, outreach, and education strategy to strengthen community engagement in research and dissemination of research results in rural areas. Two one-day workshops were organised with representatives of soccer and netball teams. During each workshop, results from the organiser (Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies) were presented, and youth input on how to engage and involve them in HIV prevention interventions was sought. Workshop participants were then asked to train their team members to disseminate research findings to their household members.

5. Using Participatory Action Research to Engage Children with Disabilities and their Families in Developing Health Initiatives to Improve their Access to Health and Social Services
This project sought to engage the community in the development of health initiatives to improve access to health and social services for children with congenital anomalies or disabilities and their families in Vietnam's Aluoi district - an area heavily affected by the use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam-American War. Following discussion and consultation with disabled children and their families, the media team and Center for Promotion of Advancement of Society (CPAS) researchers developed video clips to document real-life stories reported by disabled children or their family from each selected commune. This strategy was designed to serve as a platform for community engagement, stimulating open dialogue and interaction between disabled children and their community on issues identified in the research findings.

6. Sarau Científico - A Project for Engaging Low Income Communities in Biomedicine Research and Bioethics
Carried out in Brazil, this project designed and delivered a series of "saraus científico" (science parties) in an ongoing effort to creatively engage low-income teenagers in discussion on health research and bioethics. Both actors/musicians and scientists participated in the saraus. Organisers believe that it is very important to have scientists interacting with the public, so they selected scientists who were good communicators and, in most cases, young (in order to communicate to the teenagers in attendance that science is a professional option).

7. Café Scientifique - Uganda
This communication initiative is designed to foster public engagement with science within schools and amongst the general public in Uganda. It includes several different projects through which young people, together with experts, engage in practical, hands-on experiences. An emphasis on student involvement is important, meaning that students choose the topics and, in many cases, run their own Cafés. For example, as part of "Fundi Bots", Uganda's Café Sci students who are interested in robotics science spent time with an expert to explore their passion.

8. Twins Engage in Research through Culture
This project involved a competition to produce a diversity of cultural activities (art, drama, prose, short movies, etc.) culminating in a cultural exhibition with the theme of twins/multiples and health research. The purpose was to strategically introduce young twins/multiples and their families to the Sri Lankan Twin Registry (SLTR) and Multiple Birth Foundation (MBF). It sought to explore the priorities and concerns of participants in health research, as well as the real and perceived barriers and factors influencing participation.

9. Drama Sets the Stage for Clinical Research in Adolescents
This project evaluates the use of drama to improve African adolescents' insight into tuberculosis (TB) and TB vaccine development, clinical research, and their rights and responsibilities as trial participants. Performances will take place in at least 8 high schools, reaching up to 5,000 adolescents. Video recording of the production will enable distribution through the Department of Education to other schools and through collegial networks to other clinical research sites in Africa. Pre- and post-intervention focus group interviews, as well as pre- and post-performance knowledge surveys by attendees, will form the basis for evaluation of the project. [South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI) and the University of Cape Town Drama School]

10. Debating Matters: Approach to Evaluation by Tony Gilland
As described in this October 2012 presentation at a Wellcome Trust conference in Cape Town, South Africa, the Institute of Ideas Debating Matters competition provides young people with an opportunity to engage in well-informed debate on the complex and challenging questions raised by biomedical science, alongside other debates about politics, the media, and the arts. The competition challenges 16-18 year olds to go beyond the media headlines and knee-jerk reactions to delve deeper into scientific issues confronting society (a sample debate topic might be: "The genetic screening of embryos devalues human life".) Its purpose is to give young people a tough intellectual challenge and to get them to examine and weigh competing perspectives and evidence for themselves.

[top]

To enhance your access to a large number of public engagement with science summaries collected together on The CI site, please see our NEW theme site.

[top]

BUILDING MEDIA AND NGO SKILLS
11. Capacity Building Programme for African Press Officers Working in Health and Science
This SciDev.net project centred on a capacity-building workshop and a networking event organised to coincide with the 7th World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ) held in Doha, Qatar, in June 2011. The outcomes of the meeting were used to create a broadly disseminated best practise guide for African science/health press officers. In addition, African press officers are providing mutual support for each other, and an online discussion group was established for this purpose.

12. A Media Guide on Reporting Tuberculosis Research and Related Issues in Uganda
This guide is designed to support the media in their role of social mobilisation, policy advocacy, awareness creation, and community engagement for tuberculosis (TB) management and control. It provides information on key and current TB research and related issues in Uganda, as well as guidance on the role the media can play in sharing and engaging voices of the public on these issues. [Panos Eastern Africa, Jun 2012]

13. Workshop on Maximising Health Research Communication in Zambia
Held from November 16-18 2009 in Lusaka, Zambia, this workshop brought together more than 25 scientists, media personnel, and public health workers to share experiences and aspirations in the techniques of disseminating health research findings with the view of developing a research communication course or short courses in Zambia. Presentations called for more interaction between scientists, policymakers, and communicators. They called for the use of simple communication strategies to reach the communities that need the information. The workshop also heard that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as they relate to health, may not be achieved unless urgent measures are taken to translate abundant health research results into action. [Panos Southern Africa]

14. Kenyan Alliance of Health and Science Journalists (KAHSR)
From October of 2010 to November 2011, international media consultant Rachel Jones organised and conducted 5 half-day specialised briefings and immersion workshops for Kenyan journalists who were seeking to build expertise in health, science, and research reporting. Carried out in different regions, the sessions highlighted health-related topics in the news, as well as the latest research and policy analysis developments. The sessions were interspersed with email alerts with story leads and suggestions about newsworthy trends to pursue.

15. Training Grassroots NGOs in Research: Process, Feasibility and Experiences
This report describes and assesses a project that aimed to improve the research skills of NGOs in Theni district, India, to enable them to evolve as key players in health research and policy. Over a 2-year period, health researchers from Maharashtra Association of Anthropological Sciences-Centre for Health Research and Development (MAAS-CHRD) worked with the Development Action Consortium (DAC) Trust and a network of NGOs in Tamil Nadu, implementing health and development training programmes to build skills in health research. "Building research capacity of NGOs takes a long time and requires persistence. It needs academics and researchers to engage with NGOs and their networks, after developing a clear understanding of their ideology and their contribution to health and development of communities. At the same time, NGOs must be both proactive and interactive within the framework of the health research agenda." [Oct 2012]

[top]

FOCUS ON IMPACT OF ENGAGEMENT
16. An Ethnographic Exploration and an Evaluation of the Potential of the Jirga for Community Engagement in Research in North-west Pakistan
This initiative utilises a local, culturally embedded means of community engagement to undertake research in North West Pakistan. Jirga is a traditional process of communication, discussion, and debate. In order to explore the potential of the Jirga model to stimulate public discourse about research, in the second phase, the Pakistan research team is conducting focus group discussions with Jirga members and lady health workers, as well as for those women toward whom the (new) public discourse is geared. The third phase involves an evaluation of the use of the Jirga to shape the research agenda locally and to engage the community in research activities. [Abaseen Foundation, Khyber Medical University, Northumbria University, University of Central Lancashire, UCLan]

17. Monitoring & Evaluation of Community Engagement...KEMRI Community Representatives (KCR) by Salim Mwalukore
Delivered at the Wellcome Fourth International Public Engagement Workshop, October 3 2012, this presentation explores strategies for monitoring and evaluating community engagement in action research work as undertaken through a collaboration between the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and the Wellcome Trust. Specifically, it focuses on how the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) has monitored and evaluated a network of community representatives elected by residents of Kilifi, a poorly resourced and semi-arid district of Kenya. Approaches include: ongoing action research; documentation of questions, issues, suggestions, etc.; and social science studies such as household surveys and focus group discussions (FGDs). "We carefully document and review material during our engagement with them."

[top]

This issue of The Drum Beat was written by Kier Olsen DeVries.

The Drum Beat is the email and web network of The Communication Initiative Partnership - Partners: ANDI, BBC Media Action, Bernard van Leer Foundation, Breakthrough, Calandria, DFID, FAO, Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano (FNPI), Inter-American Development Bank, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs, MISA, Oxfam Novib, PAHO, The Panos Institute, Puntos de Encuentro, The Rockefeller Foundation, SAfAIDS, Sesame Workshop, Soul City, STEPS International, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNICEF, USAID, The Wellcome Trust, World Health Organization (WHO), W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.

Chair of the Partners Group: Garth Japhet, Founder, Soul City garth@heartlines.org.za

Executive Director: Warren Feek wfeek@comminit.com

The Editor of The Drum Beat is Kier Olsen DeVries.

Please send additional project, evaluation, strategic thinking, and materials information on communication for development at any time. Send to drumbeat@comminit.com

The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.

To reproduce any portion of The Drum Beat, click here for our policy.

To subscribe, click here.

The Drum Beat 632 - Public Engagement with Science

Red de La Iniciativa de Comunicación

Soul Beat Africa Network

The Drum Beat Network