The consequences of agricultural pesticide exposure continue to be major environmental health problems in rural communities. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is an important approach to redressing health disparities resulting from environmental causes. In this article we introduce a collection of articles that describe projects using CBPR to address the health disparities resulting...

Although participation in arts activity is believed to have important mental health and social benefits for people with mental health needs, the evidence base is currently weak. This article reports the first phase of a study intended to support the development of stronger evidence. Objectives for the first phase were to map current participatory arts activity, to identify appropriate indicator...

This paper discusses a workshop method suitable for use in projects with a participatory design approach. Participatory design is sometimes criticised for focusing too much on what users say. The method described here takes that into account by having users not only talk, but also do acting and make lo-fi prototypes. The method has been used in several different projects. The structure of the w...

BACKGROUND This article reports on the experiences of teachers as coresearchers in a long-term partnership with university researchers, who participated in an asset-based intervention project known as Supportive Teachers, Assets and Resilience (STAR). In an attempt to inform participatory research methodology, the study investigated how coresearchers (teachers) experienced power relations. We u...

BACKGROUND The implementation of research findings is not a straightforward matter. There are substantive and recognised gaps in the process of translating research findings into practice and policy. In order to overcome some of these translational difficulties, a number of strategies have been proposed for researchers. These include greater use of theoretical approaches in research focused on ...

The vision behind community forestry is to ensure the sustainability of local forests, by engaging the local communities who depend on these resources. Community forestry is practiced widely across the globe, with varying degrees of success. This study focuses on alternative approaches and tools used to evaluate project performance (in terms of sustainability) and increase participation at the ...

OBJECTIVES To undertake a critical review describing key strategies supporting development of participatory research (PR) teams to engage partners for creation and translation of action-oriented knowledge. METHODS Sources are four leading PR practitioners identified via bibliometric analysis. Authors' publications were identified in January 1995-October 2009 in PubMed, Embase, ISI Web of Scie...

This paper draws on examples of successful stakeholder collaboration in existing projects to reason the importance of collaboration in education quality improvement. Stakeholder collaboration in the definition, implementation, measurement, and evaluation of education quality improvement projects arguably increases the likelihood that the resulting policy will more effectively meet the needs of ...