AWM 2015 Pre-meeting event:

International Scientific Meeting on the Impact of Participatory Health Research
"In what way can PHR improve the health of the population?" 
What is PHR? Participatory Health Research (PHR) is becoming increasing recognized worldwide as a scientific approach contributing to addressing health problems. PHR has its roots in several traditions, including action research, cooperative inquiry, action science, and popular education. The goal of PHR is to maximize the participation of those whose life or work is the subject of the research in all stages of the research process. The entire research process is viewed as a partnership between stakeholders, which may include academic researchers; professionals in the fields of health care, education and social welfare; members of civil society; policy makers and others. 

Meeting goals. As with all other forms of health research (and applied research more generally) PHR is confronted increasingly with the question of its impact on society: In what way can PHR improve the health of the population? To address this question meeting participants will:
  • Critically examine the claim that participation is necessary to produce certain forms of knowledge in order to improve people’s health, particularly the health of disadvantaged communities;
  • Address the issue of impact in PHR will be examined from a variety of perspectives in a discussion with leading experts from several countries;
  • Set an agenda for further international collaborative work on this issue. 
 Picture
Where: Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld

When: Date: 1-3 June 2015
Photo credit: "Bielefeld Botanischer Garten 3" by Zefram  - Own work (own photography). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0-de via Wikimedia Commons.
Organizers:
  • German Network for Participatory Health Research (PartNet)
  • PartKommPlus – Research Consortium on Municipal Health Promotion Strategies in Germany
  • International Collaboration for Participatory Health Research (ICPHR)

Partners:

Summary of Meeting

Meeting Report download here
File Size: 4294 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
Acknowledgements 
We are grateful to the German Network for Participatory Health Research (PartNet), the Institute of Population and Public Health of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and Community-Based Research Canada (CBRC) for their support in organizing the conference. 

Our special thanks to Dr. Britta Padberg and the ZIF, the Center for Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Bielefeld, whose financial support made this event possible. Additional support was provided by the Catholic University of Applied Sciences Berlin. 
And a thank you to each and every participant and presenter, who contributed to the richness of the discussions and to the respectful, critical, candid and constructive atmosphere. 

Finally, we are grateful for the inspiring words of our keynote speakers Claire Donovan and Matthias Bergmann whose contribution set the groundwork for our deliberations. 

Michael T. Wright 
Berlin, 15th of July 2015