COMMUNITY PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH IN A COUNSELLING RESEARCH CLINIC: FIRST STEPS

Dr Sheila Spong and Rachel Waters University of Wales Newport

Some Questions

What do people in the communities we serve want from counselling research?

How do they want to be involved?

How can we facilitate this?

The context...

Newport University Community Counselling Service (NUCCS) has 3 main functions: Provision of free counselling

Provision of placements to trainees

Engagement in counselling research

Funded by: The University of Wales Newport

The Big Lottery

The Kegie Foundation

Sheila Spong and Rachel Waters University of Wales Newport

The history...

2006

the idea

2011 opens

on campus

2011 scoping

of comm-

unity needs

2012

comm-unity

venues

Inspired and influenced by other counselling research clinics:

The context...

The counselling offered : Up to 20 sessions

CBT or Integrative.

Counsellors are students and some paid staff

Targeted groups – BME community, gypsies and travellers, asylum seekers and refugees, carers, people with mild to moderate mental health problems

In the local community venues & University site

In conjunction with local community groups who provide expertise, resources , venues

Sheila Spong and Rachel Waters University of Wales Newport

The research ...

Collect some standardised data* from most clients for research by students and staff involved in NUCCS

Developing a model for community participatory research (CPR), i.e. research that is:

generated with

undertaken in collaboration with

community groups, potential clients, and clients

* CORE, depression, anxiety, measures of the client counsellor

relationship , ‘Change Interviews’ .

Sheila Spong and Rachel Waters University of Wales Newport

Choosing community participatory research

Why?

Fits with ethos of the NUCCS service – working ‘with’ clients, not doing ‘to’ clients

Fits with our vision of research as empowering

Funding from Big Lottery

Newport as a community engaged University

Sheila Spong and Rachel Waters University of Wales Newport

What is Community Participatory Research?

Sheila Spong and Rachel Waters University of Wales Newport

‘the key element of PR lies not in the methods but in the attitudes of the researchers which in turn determine how, by and for whom research is conceptualised and conducted’ (Cornwall and Jewkes 1995, p. 1667).

PR/ CPR has a very long history, can use many different methods/ methodologies.

Sheila Spong and Rachel Waters University of Wales Newport

What is community

participatory research? Pays attention to community identity (Israel et al

2003)

Co-researchers (i.e. community members) may be involved in the projects in many ways, at all stages of the research

Mutual benefits for all partners from the research

Practical / useful/ sustainable outcomes (Pain & Francis, 2003; Park, 1999)

Addresses social inequalities (Israel et al 2003)

Community participatory research for NUCCS

Draw on existing frameworks of CPR , especially Cargo and Mercer (2008)

Cargo and Mercer reviewed the CPR literature and identified 5 key domains to address in CPR

We have adapted this to fit the specific needs of research in a counselling service

Sheila Spong and Rachel Waters University of Wales Newport

Sheila Spong and Rachel Waters University of Wales Newport

Issues for community participatory research in counselling

Who are the community? • Clients/ potential clients/ ex-clients? •Carers/ supporters/ networks? •Community agencies? •Statutory agencies? •Everyone in the locality? (see also Israel et al 1998)

Client issues in counselling research •Vulnerability (McLeod 2003)

• Sensitivity/complexity of data (McLeod 1996,

Abrahams 2007)

•Truly informed and free consent? (McLeod 2003)

• Client deference (Rennie 1994)

•Transference

Data, ethics and confidentiality in CPR •Data highly confidential, may be distressing (McLeod 1996, West & Byrne 2009)

•Co-researchers may know each other /clients (Faulkner 2008)

•How are co-researchers accountable? •Uncertainty of research process (Lofman et al,

2004).

Issues for specific client groups e.g. •Refugees asylum seekers / BME -possible cultural differences; need for interpreters

•Carers - lack of time to participate , potential need for respite care

•All - cost of participating

WHO WILL BE

INVOLVED?

HOW WILL EACH

PARTNER BE

INVOLVED? /

Phase 1: Defining the research area, questions and design.

Phase 3: Interpretation and dissemination

Phase 2: Collection and analysis of data

Phase 4: Evaluation of findings and process

Decision Making Model for Counselling

Community Participatory Research

Resources available

Account-ability of

each partner

Interests and

priorities of each partner

Contextual issues

Impact on partner-

ships

Partic-ipatory

research values

and principles

Ethical Issues

Where next...

2012/3 Research connections

with community partners

2013 Setting up first CPR projects

2006

the idea

2011

start-up

2011 scopelocal

needs

2012

BL funds

venues

First project plans: very early days Meeting with carers groups, to consider

developing a small scale project. Current suggestions include: Counselling for those who are post –caring

Self-esteem and counselling for carers

Changes in counselling

Ideas from our stakeholders group include a study on the impact on interpreters of working in counselling, particularly working with traumatised clients, and how interpreters can be emotionally supported

Sheila Spong and Rachel Waters University of Wales Newport

References ABRAHAMS, H., 2007. Ethics in counselling research fieldwork.

Counselling & Psychotherapy Research, 7(4), pp. 240-244.

CARGO, M. and MERCER, S.L., 2008. The Value and Challenges of Participatory Research: Strengthening Its Practice. Annual Review of Public Health, 29(1), pp. 325-350.

CORNWALL, A. and JEWKES, R., 2010. Erratum to: “What is participatory research” [Social Science & Medicine, 41 (1995), 1667–1676]. Social science & medicine, 70(5), pp. 794-794.

FAULKNER, A., 2008. Involving clients in counselling and psychotherapy research. Healthcare Counselling & Psychotherapy Journal, 8(3), pp. 16-18.

ISRAEL, B., ENG, E., SCHULZ, A., PARKER, E., BECKER, A.B., ALLEN, A. and RICARDO GUZMAN, J., 2003. Critical issues in developing and following CBPR principles. In: MINKLER, M., WALLERSTEIN, N., ed, Community-based Participatory Research for Health: From Process to Outcomes. 2 edn. Jossey-Bass, pp. 46-66.

ISRAEL, B.A., SCHULZ, A.J., PARKER, E.A. and BECKER, A.B., 1998. Review of community -based research: Assessing partnership approaches to improve public health. Annual Review of Public Health, 19, pp. 173-202.

Sheila Spong and Rachel Waters University of Wales Newport

References cont. LÖFMAN, P., PELKONEN, M. and PIETILÄ, A., 2004. Ethical

issues in participatory action research. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 18(3), pp. 333-340.

MCLEOD, J., 2003. Doing counselling research. Sage.

MCLEOD, J., 1996. Qualitative approaches to research in counselling and psychotherapy: Issues and challenges. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 24(3), pp. 309.

PAIN, R. and FRANCIS, P., 2003. Reflections on participatory research. Area, 35(1), pp. 46-54.

PARK, P., 1999. People, knowledge and change in participatory research. Management Learning, 30(2), pp. 141-157.

RENNIE, D.L., 1994. Client's deference in psychotherapy. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 41(4), pp. 427.

WEST, W. and BYRNE, J., 2009. Some ethical concerns about counselling research. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 22(3), pp. 309-318.

Sheila Spong and Rachel Waters University of Wales Newport