Evidence Library

Abstract: This article reports on the findings from a study that asked young black and minority ethnic (BME) mothers about their health needs around the time of birth. The researchers used a community-based participatory approach, setting up a community steering committee to oversee the project and involving two people with experience of teenage pregnancy from the community as research assistants (CRAs). The research assistants conducted two focus groups and carried out interviews with other young BME mothers. One of the major issues raised by the young women was trust. They tended to avoid local services because they did not want other people ‘to know their business’. This may have also influenced their perception of the CRAs’ involvement. The researchers concluded that although the CRAs helped with recruitment, in future it might be better to recruit a team that includes both community members and professionals. This would combine the benefits of community involvement with the reassurance of confidentiality from a service professional. The steering committee provided local knowledge making suggestions as to which words and style should be used by the facilitators, identifying the best times and locations to hold groups and identifying when and where to find teenage BME mothers. The researchers concluded that had they also involved the committee in the analysis, they might have created a greater sense of local ownership of the findings and brought about stronger commitment to implementation and change.

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Categories: public health
Designing research
Managing research
Undertaking research
impact on research
impact of public involvement
journal article
Recruitment

Date Entered: 2015/04/27

Date Edited: 2015/04/27