Developing a Community-Based Research Project Proposal to Build Public Health Educator Capacity: A Graduate Student Perspective

Trainee-led research using an integrated knowledge translation or other research partnership approaches: a scoping reviews

BACKGROUND

There are increasing expectations for researchers and knowledge users in the health system to use a research partnership approach, such as integrated knowledge translation, to increase the relevance and use of research findings in health practice, programmes and policies. However, little is known about how health research trainees engage in research partnership approaches such as IKT. In response, the purpose of this scoping review was to map and characterize the evidence related to using an IKT or other research partnership approach from the perspective of health research trainees in thesis and/or postdoctoral work.

METHODS

We conducted this scoping review following the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and Arksey and O'Malley's framework. We searched the following databases in June 2020: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and PsycINFO. We also searched sources of unpublished studies and grey literature. We reported our findings in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews.

RESULTS

We included 74 records that described trainees' experiences using an IKT or other research partnership approach to health research. The majority of studies involved collaboration with knowledge users in the research question development, recruitment and data collection stages of the research process. Intersecting barriers to IKT or other research partnerships at the individual, interpersonal and organizational levels were reported, including lack of skills in partnership research, competing priorities and trainees' "outsider" status. We also identified studies that evaluated their IKT approach and reported impacts on partnership formation, such as valuing different perspectives, and enhanced relevance of research.

CONCLUSION

Our review provides insights for trainees interested in IKT or other research partnership approaches and offers guidance on how to apply an IKT approach to their research. The review findings can serve as a basis for future reviews and primary research focused on IKT principles, strategies and evaluation. The findings can also inform IKT training efforts such as guideline development and academic programme development.

Pivoting a Community-Based Participatory Research Project for Mental Health and Immigrant Youth in Philadelphia During COVID-19

Research has documented the need for mental health services among refugee and immigrant youth. A joint collaboration on a community-based participatory research (CBPR) research project between a university, a local art and health collective, and an immigrant and refugee organization sought to identify and understand the mental health needs and strategies for immigrant youth in Philadelphia through youth discussion and engagement in a variety of art workshops. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this CBPR research project was forced to make several programmatic changes, such as shifting to a virtual setting, that impacted project implementation and intended outcomes. These changes highlight valuable lessons and practical implications in pivoting a program during COVID-19 to continue working with marginalized communities with limited resources, including barriers to technology access, at a time when effectively addressing mental health for immigrant youth has become both more challenging and pressing.