Systematic review of community engagement approach in research: describing partnership approaches, challenges and benefits

Summarised by Mesh Editorial Team.

This review explores different ways in which researchers engage communities, the challenges they face, and the benefits they bring. Community engagement in research involves collaborating with local people who have a stake in the research outcomes. The review found that there are many ways to create these partnerships, ranging from consultations and advisory boards to more involved roles like co-researchers or decision-makers. Each approach has its strengths, such as gaining valuable insights from the community and building trust, but also comes with challenges like balancing power dynamics and ensuring genuine participation.

Challenges to community engagement include:

• There is an absence of established approaches for evaluation of community engagement
• Community engagement can raise high community expectations which might be challenging to meet
• Stakeholders can have a range of views which sometimes might be conflicting
• There is often a lack of funding and infrastructure for engagement
• There are wide gaps between community engagement theory and practice

Benefits of community engagement include:

• Engaging community members can help uncover disease protective factors
• Community engagement can be effective in priority setting for research
• It can improve relations between communities and researchers
• It can enhance the impact and translation of research into policy
• Community engagement can lead to more relevant research outcomes
• Community engagement can lead to improved trust, transparency, communication and commitment to research 

The benefits of community engagement in research are significant. When communities are actively involved, the research is often more relevant and applicable to their needs, leading to more effective solutions and better outcomes. Engaged communities also tend to trust the research more and are more likely to support and use the findings. However, the review highlights that these partnerships require time, resources, and commitment to overcome obstacles such as differing expectations, cultural barriers, and logistical issues. Despite these challenges, the overall impact of involving communities in research is overwhelmingly positive, promoting more inclusive, respectful, and impactful studies.

View the article here.