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Participatory action research (PAR) is an approach for supporting effective research in and with communities.  It is grounded in the philosophy that to effect useful change, all stakeholders must actively participate in all phases of the research process, from conception through data collection and analysis to the resultant actions that create change.

In late April, sixteen community partners and nineteen research faculty (including postdoctoral fellows and graduate students) from Nova Scotia participated in two separate PAR training sessions at Dalhousie University. This initiative was funded by a NSHRF Catalyst Award received by an interprofessional project team comprised of FHP faculty members Heidi Lauckner (Lead - School of Occupational Therapy), Rob Gilbert (Health Sciences), Lois Jackson (HPI and School of Health and Human Performance), Jessie-Lee McIsaac (HPI), Grace Warner (Occupational Therapy) and Cathy White (Occupational Therapy).  The award supported research capacity building amongst seven established research teams and ten individual researchers/community partners.  Research teams are engaged in community-based projects related to a broad range of topics, such as recreation and mental health/chronic conditions, supporting caregivers and volunteers within palliative care, early childhood development, and resilience amongst Mi’kmaw youth.

PAR training provided participants with fundamental skills and attitudes for fostering collective inquiry supporting future experimentation that is grounded in both experience and social histories.  The Catalyst Award will also support the initiation of an informal community of practice that will provide opportunity for continued learning and sharing of PAR tools and projects.  The collective experience of the training was well summarized by one participant who stated: “We now have brilliant techniques to illicit data in real time and where people can be active participants in the data analysis”