Engaging the community and building public trust in health research.

I am sharing my current experience working in an NGO. I am working with a project that is implementing program and research. Engaging the community, building a trust is very important to the research.  

Community engagement in research is “a process of inclusive participation that supports mutual respect of values and actions for authentic partnership” of community people affiliated by geographic location of the remote setting of the intervention and control areas. Community engagement (CE) has been regarded as a critical element of successful health research programs to achieve. It is playing a significant role in enhancing benefits, and sharing responsibility towards public health. It offers the community members the same access to any information they might need to make well-informed decisions when they participate in our project.  

 Community involvement in research has been advocated by researchers, communities, data collectors, service providers, doctors by visiting them directly to their villages. Ensuring with the aim of subjects' protection and confidentiality. With no financial benefit to the research organization.  

Community involvement also has the potential to improve the research work, dissemination information of the surveys, uptake, coverage and implementation of research findings. Community engagement is a way of ensuring that community members have access to speak and participate in a local level meeting. It creates a value to the local speak and to his social settings. Local people will listen more to the influential person in the community such as school teacher, chairman, ward commissioner and religious person. Cultural sensitivity should be considered in the villages. Sharing Research information build a trust and the truth is told about the study 

Method: For running the research we have used local meeting at the community level, hospital and at the local chairman house. We also provided incentives and foods. It has been a good initiative. And has been very useful. It helps us to take consent easily for the research. Being compassionate, spending appropriate time with the communities, demonstrating active listening, also helped building a trust. The women act as ambassador and encourages the women to participate in the study.