The potential and pitfalls in using Community Advisory Boards in participatory research
Speaker(s):
Bio: Dr Emmaleena K?kel? is a Research Associate at the School of Social Work and Social Policy, University of Strathclyde, Scotland. Her research expertise is in the areas of forced migration, asylum inequalities, refugee integration, cultural identity negotiation and the relationship between gender-based and structural forms of violence and harm. She has particular expertise in conducting participatory research, including practice-research engagement with third sector organisations and developing Community Advisory Boards with refugee women. She is particularly passionate about creative methods such as vignettes and zine-making, which she has also utilised in knowledge exchange and teaching.
Bio: My research interests are in the areas of social justice and inequalities, with a particular focus on young people's experiences and participatory methodologies. I am currently involved in three research projects, all focussed on examining on-going disadvantages facing particular groups in society, namely migrant women during the COVID-19 pandemic (@GenMigra), young men and access to mental health support (@MenMindsProject) and young migrants aged 16-26 at transition to adulthood (MigYouth project). You can read more about my work at: https://www.strath.ac.uk/staff/simedanieladr/
Abstract:
With the growing recognition of the importance of involving communities in social research, researchers have shown increasing interest in developing Community Advisory Boards (CAB). During a short talk, we will reflect our experiences of engaging seldom-heard groups, namely migrant children and young people, and refugee women affected by gender-based violence, in different research projects as Community Advisors. Our aim is to highlight the key practical and ethical considerations in CAB research and demonstrate strategies for co-production in different stages of the research process. The second part of the workshop will invite participants to work in breakout rooms to reflect the potential to use Community Advisory Boards in their own research, with the aid of Jamboards. The discussion will be structured around key questions on the likely challenges and approaches to Advisory Board recruitment, retention, compensation and the extent of their involvement in shaping the research process.