Addressing diversity and complexity in the community engagement literature: The rationale for a realist review

Emma Z L Richardson; Sunita V S Bandewar; Renaud F Boulanger; Rukshan Mehta; Tinya Lin; Robin Vincent; Sassy Molyneux; Arisa Goldstone; James V Lavery

doi:10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15525.2

Addressing diversity and complexity in the community engagement literature: The rationale for a realist review

Wellcome Open Res. 2021 Mar 29:5:1. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15525.2. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Emma Z L Richardson^{1

2

3}, Sunita V S Bandewar^{4

5}, Renaud F Boulanger⁶, Rukshan Mehta⁷, Tinya Lin⁸, Robin Vincent^{9

10}, Sassy Molyneux^{11

12

13}, Arisa Goldstone¹, James V Lavery¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Ethical, Social and Cultural Risk, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Unity Health, 250 Yonge Street, Suite 600, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 2L7, Canada.
² Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada.
³ Applied Health Research Centre, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Unity Health, 250 Yonge Street, Suite 600, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 2L7, Canada.
⁴ Health, Ethics and Law Institute, 422 Veer Savarkar Marg, Prabhadevi, Mumbai, 400 025, India.
⁵ Vidhyak Trust, C-5, Mantri Avenue, Pune, MH, 411 008, India.
⁶ Centre for Applied Ethics, McGill University, 2155 Guy Street, 223.08, Montréal, H3H 2R9, Canada.
⁷ Nutrition and Health Sciences PhD Program, Rollins School of Public Health and Laney Graduate School, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, CNR, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
⁸ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Calgary, Foothills Medical Centre, 1403 29th Street NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 2T9, Canada.
⁹ Independent researcher, Sheffield, UK.
¹⁰ REAL, Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, OS1 3SY, UK.
¹¹ Department of Health Systems and Research Ethics, KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya.
¹² The Ethox Centre, Department of Public Health,, Oxford University, Old Road Campus, Headington, Oxford, OX3 7LF, UK.
¹³ The Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus, Headington, Oxford, OX3 7LF, UK.
¹⁴ Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health & Center for Ethics, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, CNR 5007, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.

Abstract

In this research note we reflect on our failed attempt to synthesize the community engagement literature through a standard systematic review and explain our rationale for now embarking on a realist synthesis of community engagement in global health research. We believe this paper will be helpful for many who grapple with the lack of clarity about community engagement's core elements and mechanisms.

Keywords: Community engagement; health research; low- and middle-income countries; realist review.

Publication types

Comment

Grants and funding

WT_/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom