Engaging with Aboriginal Communities in Collaborative Research (original) (raw)
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Conducting research together with remote Aboriginal communities
14th National Rural Health Conference, 2017
Introduction: An international systematic literature review found that few publications evaluate the preference or understanding of an individual or group when seeking consent for research with Indigenous communities. Research with Indigenous communities has not always done in a way that address the priorities of the community, even if they are conducted in line with protocols such as the NHMRC guidelines. The Lililwan Project is an example of a study that was well received by the Aboriginal communities of Fitzroy Crossing receiving a 95% participation rate. In response, the community initiated the Picture Talk Project, to examine what had been learned about community engagement and consent process. In this paper we will discuss how findings inform current research policies and ethical guidelines. Methods: Invited by Aboriginal leaders of the Fitzroy Valley, researchers with the Picture Talk Project interview Aboriginal community leaders and focus group discussions were held with Aboriginal community members about research experiences and the consent process including the methodology used by the Lililwan Project. These are analysed using NVivo10 software with an integrated method of inductive and deductive coding and grounded theory. Local Aboriginal research team members, employed as Community Navigators to interpret language and provide cultural guidance, also validate the coding of data. Themes are synthesised and supporting quotes from participants were identified. This paper will explore three themes in the light of how they inform policy change. Results: Interviews with Aboriginal leaders (n=20) and focus groups (n=6) with Aboriginal community members (with 3 to 10 participants) were conducted in the presence of a local Aboriginal Community Navigator to interpret language and provide cultural guidance. Participants were from different age groups, both males and females and from all major local language groups of the Fitzroy Valley. Themes include: • Research—finding knowledge • working together with good communication • being flexible with time. Insightful statements from individual participants exemplify these themes. Recommendations for research policy change are put forward based on these findings. Conclusion: Research policies and guidelines need to change so that researchers rethink the ways in which Aboriginal people are approached to engage in research. Respect for cultural differences needs to be better understood so that it can be embedded in every step of a research process. Aboriginal research partners should be engaged from the start to the end of any project. There needs to be flexible time-lines provided by funding bodies if a project is delayed for cultural reasons. Projects should specify how they aim to provide benefits to the community.
Authentic Research Relationships: Precursor to Ethical Research with Aboriginal People
recent ethics guidelines and policies are changing the way health research is understood, governed, and practiced among Aboriginal communities in Canada. This provides a unique opportunity to examine the meanings and uses of such guidelines by Aboriginal communities themselves. This qualitative study, conducted in Labrador, Canada, with the Innu, Inuit, and Inuit-Metis, examined how communities and researchers collaborate in a co-learning environment whereby mutual interests and agendas are discussed and enacted throughout the entire research process-a process referred to an authentic research relationship. The purpose of this study was to answer the following questions: (1) Why are authentic research relationships important? (2) What is authenticity in research? (3) How do we achieve authenticity in research with Aboriginal peoples? This shift to more wholistic methodologies can be used in various contexts in Canada and internationally. This is the first study by an Aboriginal person to examine the perspectives of Aboriginal people, in an Aboriginal context, using Aboriginal methodologies.
with House, L. Indigenous scholar Shawn Wilson (2008) maintains that research is a space for building relationships, and together with the community, to cocreate the tools necessary to ensure that these relationships are sustainable in the future. This ‘conversation-in-relation’, a foundational concept in Indigenous Studies, has guided our research approach from the onset, but as we will explain below, theory was not the starting point of this collaboration and the research framework and ethical principles were formally established later on. The shared values that nevertheless underlined our collaboration were that any research project needs to have a relevant and practical application for the community; that the research process is co-determined by the community and the researcher in the spirit of reciprocity and respect; that all local knowledges (community narratives, personal stories, spiritual expressions, etc.) are fully recognized and valued both as theory and praxis; and finally, that the aims are to foster community agency and empowerment, in this case to develop an integrated model of wellbeing and living a good life.
2021
Background Community engagement in Aboriginal health research aims to protect and empower participating individuals and communities and is an ethical requirement in research. One approach to incorporating community engagement in research is to engage a community reference group to provide oversight and cultural guidance to projects. The aim of this study was to describe the process of establishing a community reference group and terms of reference to guide the Enhancing Equity, Collaboration and Culturally secure Osteoarthritis care for Aboriginal Australians collaboration (ECCO). ECCO is a national inter-professional team of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal health service staff and researchers that was established to develop culturally secure osteoarthritis care for Aboriginal people. Methods This was a two-phase study conducted in Victoria, Australia. In phase one, semi-structured research yarns were conducted collaboratively by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal co-investigators to explo...
Researching together: Reflections on ethical research in remote Aboriginal communities
Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts
Ethical research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is a complex and delicate space. It often juxtaposes Western views of ethical practice with Indigenous worldviews and values. The lead author's doctoral research project has focused on the expectations, experiences and outcomes of boarding school for remote Aboriginal students, families and communities. This paper presents a thematic analysis of the reflections of the authors on working together on this research as a non-Indigenous researcher and an Aboriginal Community Researcher. Strategies to implement what the authors and literature describe as ethical practice in remote Aboriginal communities are discussed. Implications for future research and lessons learned through this experience are identified.
Keeping the Bastards at Bay: Indigenous Community Responses to Research
ECU Publications, 2001
Researchers are not always readily welcome in Indigenous communities. The failure of researchers to adequately explain the research they are conducting or provide useful feedback to communities, as well as the potential to use the data to condemn the participants to a deficit position in society has resulted in many Indigenous communities being unwilling to host researchers. In this paper, the implications for the conduct of a research project that will operate in a number of urban and remote communities will be discussed. Research as a Process of Empowerment Research which involves Indigenous communities must be implemented in a way which creates opportunities for empowering the community. This is a notion which is supported by Williams and Stewart (1992) who see research as being a process whereby Indigenous communities can "confront continuing forms of social and cultural domination and imposition" (p 3) and a mechanism through which the development of knowledge can be liberating and empowering. The key to this idea lies in the nature of research partnerships and the conditions under which they are established.
Maintaining and nurturing reciprocal and respectful relationships in early childhood research with Aboriginal families and communities Introduction In 2009, three university researchers – a literacy researcher, an Aboriginal researcher and an early childhood researcher - undertook a study into the reading practices and choices of Aboriginal children aged three to six year. The study revealed fascinating information about the types of books chosen by children (books selected most often were those that promoted social interactions between family members and wider social networks, as well as promoting child agency and problem solving); the role of fathers in their children’s literacy development (many fathers were actively involved and often read aloud to multi-age groups of children in the home); and families’ access to books (most families had few children’s books in the home and that access to children’s books was limited). It also demonstrated the role of good quality children’s literature in generating numerous re-readings of favorite books (Hill, Colbung & Glover, 2010). Integral to the study was the researchers’ desire to adhere to ideals of ethical Indigenous research at all stages in the research process (AIATSI, 2000; NHMRC, 2003). In practice, such research is underpinned by the values of spirit and integrity, reciprocity, respect, equality, survival and protection; and responsibility (NHMRC, 2003). It is governed by consultation, negotiation and mutual understanding; respect, recognition and involvement; and benefits, outcomes, and agreement (AIATSI, 2000). Research reciprocity and relationships with Aboriginal families and communities This article explores the important role of reciprocity and relationships in the study. As Smith notes, “for indigenous and other marginalized communities, research ethics is at a very basic level about establishing, maintaining, and nurturing reciprocal and respectful relationships” (Smith 2005, p. 97). The seven key stages of the research process are described in terms of how reciprocity and relationships were addressed. The authors write to share their experiences (and lessons learned) and to support the on-going exchange of ideas and information between Indigenous and non-Indigenous colleagues as they work together to improve policy, service delivery and research affecting Aboriginal families and communities. We begin by describing the research process and then comment on reciprocity and relationships at various stages of the study.