The broad aim of community engagement is to enhance research by seeking consultation from relevant stakeholders.
Community engagement enables the involvement and collaboration with affected communities, marginalised groups and other key stakeholders in the design, implementation, and dissemination of research projects. The importance of engaging local communities in health research has been gaining significance in recent years, as they are the ones who will be affected the most by the findings of your research.
Key stakeholders that could be engaged depending on the nature of your study include patients, caretakers, community members and leaders, faith leaders/groups, law/policymakers, civil society organisations, and non-governmental organisations.
Figure 1: what is community engagement? (Source: https://treattb.org/our-work/stream-trial/community-engagement)
Figure 2: Community engagement during research
Figure 3: The importance of community engagement.
Figure 4: The 3 C’s model of participatory community engagement (1).
Do you want to learn more?
To learn more about community engagement, please find the link to our community engagement hub (MESH): https://mesh.tghn.org/
References:
(1) (PDF) Strengthening ethical community engagement in contemporary Malawi. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327731298_Strengthening_ethical_community_engagement_in_contemporary_Malawi[accessed Mar 22, 2024].