1. Unveiling participation of ethnic minorities and other stakeholders in health research decision- making in Ireland
Roura M 1, Bradley C 2, Hannigan A 1, Basogomba A 3, Adshead M 1, LeMaster J 4, Villarroel-Williams N 1, Nurse D 5, MacFarlane A 1
1 University Of Limerick, Ireland; 2 Shannon Family Resource Centre, Ireland; 3 Intercultural and Diversity Education Centre , Ireland; 4 Kansas University Medical Centre, United States; 5 Health Service Executive, Dublin, Ireland

2. Few documented examples of
BACKGROUND
Meaningful involvement of different stakeholders in health research partnerships increasingly valued.
Experiential wisdom acquired in everyday life as a source of valid knowledge.
Participatory research as a means to involve stakeholders in health research decision-making.
Few documented examples of
HOW to incorporate the knowledge of diverse stakeholders in research co-governance

3. POLICY DEVELOPERS/IMPLEMENTERS EXPERIENTIAL KNOWLEDGE
THE EMH-IC PROJECT
Ethnic Minority Health in Ireland – Co-creating knowledge
SCHOLARLY DISCIPLINES
Medical Sociology
Biomedical Statistics
Epidemiology
Political Sciences
Population Health
COMMUNITY ORGANISATION
Migrants & ethnic minorities
Community workers
 HEALTH PROVIDERS
Administrative & clinical staff at Primary Health Care centres
POLICY DEVELOPERS/IMPLEMENTERS
Irish Health Service Executive
World Health Organisation
(Regional Office for Europe)
ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE
EXPERIENTIAL KNOWLEDGE

4. BEHIND THE CURTAINS OF MEANINGFUL INVOLVEMENT
Inter-Stakeholder Steering Group
Key role in project governance
Bi monthly meetings
(3 hours/each)

5. BEHIND THE CURTAINS OF MEANINGFUL INVOLVEMENT
PARTICIPATORY LEANING AND ACTION APPROACH
TECHNIQUES
Flexible brainstorming, traffic light exercises, card sorting, card ranking, matrices, and web diagrams.
MODE OF ENGAGEMENT
Deliberation, mutual learning and self-reflexion

6. BEHIND THE CURTAINS OF MEANINGFUL INVOLVEMENT
PARTICIPATORY LEANING AND ACTION APPROACH
TECHNIQUES
Flexible brainstorming, traffic light exercises, card sorting, card ranking, matrices, and web diagrams.
MODE OF ENGAGEMENT
Deliberation, mutual learning and self-reflexion
1- Identify pre-conceived assumptions
2- Select study sites
3- Design operational sequence of field-work activities
4- Develop a dissemination strategy

7. STEP 1 – PROSPECTIVE SITES & AGREED CRITERIA
1. Socioeconomic context
2. Volume of minority ethnicities
3. Diversity of ethnicities
4. Diversity of migrant typologies (e.g. refugees, labour migrants)
5. Willingness of health professionals to take part in the study
6. Number of registered patients
7. Capacity to participate (e.g. availability of staff)
8. Geographical location
9. Health care delivery context
10. Structure of PHC facility

8. STEP 2. CO-CREATED MATRIX (SITES-CRITERIA) KEY CRITERIA  
Prospective study sites (Handout 1)
KEY CRITERIA
CANDIDATE SITES
CONTEXT
DIVERSITY MINORITY ETHNICITIES
DIVERSITY
MIGRANT
TYPOLOGIES
WILLINGNESS
CAPACITY
LOCATION
CONVENIENCE
SIZE
SITE 1
N=9,590
- District in “affluent” category
-76% white Irish. Other white (14%) and Asian (4%) above nat. average (9% and 2%)
Super diverse population. About 40 nationalities
Recent refugees from Syria, political refugees from Chile since the 80s, labour migrants, Irish travellers
Local health partners very interested
Contacts with existing natural groups
Medium
SITE 2
N=1,065
- One of the country’s most disadvantaged urban areas.
-52% white Irish, 33% other white, 7% Asian (vs 84%, 9%, 2% nat. average)
+ 100 nationalities
Direct provision, Refugees, Economic migrants
Director willing (engaged in research). Busy staff. Good computer capacity
Close to community partners/ UL
Large

9. WHAT IS SAMPLING IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH?
STEP 3. INFORMATIVE SESSION
EMH-IC PROJECT – SG MEETING # 3
WHAT IS SAMPLING IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH?
Rationale and typologies

10. STEP 4. VISUAL RANKING (TRAFFIC LIGHT EXERCISE)  
INDIVIDUAL WORK 30’
THINK AND RATE – ONE COLOUR PER SITE (ONLY 3 GREEN)
IS THIS A SUITABLE SITE FOR EMHIC? YES NO WOULD AGREE
PROSPECTIVE SITES
RATINGS
SITE 1
SITE 2
SITE 3
SIRE 4
SITE 5
SITE 6
SITE 7

11. STEP 4. VISUAL RANKING (TRAFFIC LIGHT EXERCISE)  
GROUP WORK 60’
SHARE RATES
DELIBERATE JOINTLY
BUILD ON EACH OTHERS’ INSIGHTS
ONE BY ONE
JUSTIFY
RATIONALE
PROSPECTIVE SITES
RATINGS
SITE 1
SITE 2
SITE 3
SIRE 4
SITE 5
SITE 6
SITE 7
Any one wants to change rating?

12. STEP 3. TRAFFIC LIGHT EXERCISE
STEP 4. VISUAL RANKING (TRAFFIC LIGHT EXERCISE)
Chart 1

13. STEP 4. VISUAL RANKING (TRAFFIC LIGHT EXERCISE)
Chart 2
MODIFIED VIEWS

14. DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION
The use of PLA techniques fostered a fertile communication exchange that yielded broader and deeper understandings.
This process of co-learning and joint reflection generated new forms of hybrid knowledge that leveraged joint decision-making.
This allowed stakeholders to participate meaningfully by contributing to key decisions in the project governance.
Unveiling how participatory tools are employed is
key to documenting progress towards meaningful stakeholder involvement

15. THANKS!