INCREASING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN MEDICAL RESEARCH PROJECTS
Introducing a participatory design research approach to medical researchers
Client
The Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC)
Company/Partner(s)
Sapna Singh, Liz Sanders
Approach
CoDesign Workshop
Methods/Tools
Projective Tools and Frameworks, Co-facilitation
OBJECTIVE
The Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) asked me, and two colleagues, to conduct a half-day workshop on participatory design (or CoDesign) at their “Tools of the Trade” seminar.
Grants are expecting to see greater community engagement in medical research plans. A member of CCTS saw a CoDesign presentation we gave and asked us to introduce and expose their medical researchers to alternative (specifically participatory design) methods that could be utilized to encourage greater community engagement in research projects, from the start.
OUTCOME
Through a hands-on workshop, we:
Exposed researchers to the participatory design approach
Demonstrated alternative methods to engage community stakeholders throughout clinical research projects
Provoked researchers to thinking about who their community stakeholders were
Inspired new ways to structure their research processes to incorporate stakeholders throughout a project, beginning with planning the type of research they should be doing.
Encouraged collective (open) discussion and collaboration between researchers and community leaders who were participating in the seminar, as well as creative thinking.
Together, researchers and community partners determined key stakeholders for specific research topics such as, Infant Mortality, Rett Syndrome, and the Opioid Crisis, and designed future research approaches that would better incorporated community stakeholders throughout the research process, from the start.
PROCESS
Planning and Building Workshop Materials
The design and development of the materials for the workshop were customized based on the scope and aims of this workshop. Often in workshops like this we will introduce projective materials (icon stickers, images, and words) and canvas frameworks to spark conversation and creative thinking. It’s often hard for people who do not feel they are creative thinkers to work from a white piece of paper. We find these tangible materials ignite conversation and get the creative juices running.
Workshop Materials
Stakeholder Map Canvas
Research Process Journey Map Canvas
Stakeholder stickers, word labels, and images (concrete and abstract on the topic of research + community)
Step 1: Each person created an individual stakeholder map (with the materials), using their current frame of mind – who they would expect to include – given their chosen research topic. The goal of the first exercise was to set a benchmark before introducing the idea of CoDesign. Each person presented their map to other table participants.
Step 2: An introductory presentation to the participatory design (or CoDesign) approach and methods was given. Participants were then divided into mixed teams of 4 (researchers and community partners) and chose a pertinent research topic.
Step 3: Collectively, participants defined primary/secondary stakeholders (including: interests, importance, influence and impact on the topic, relationship to one another, and what value they would bring to the project).
Along with the Stakeholder Map, groups were also asked to create a Research Process Journey map (using the materials) to identify where in the process these stakeholders could add the most value. The goal of the second exercise was to encourage collaboration and discussion around key stakeholders (both at the research institutes and in the community) that should be brought into the research process for this topic.
Final Step: The workshop ended with presentations from each group to the larger group, and reflections on benefits/barriers to incorporating the participatory design approach into their research practices.
