Practices and challenges of community engagement in health research in Ethiopia: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVE: The role of the community in the research process in Ethiopia has not been documented. This study aims to explore the existing practices and challenges of community engagement in health research in Ethiopia. DESIGN: A qualitative study with a narrative approach was conducted. Data were audio-recorded, transcribed, inductively coded and analysed thematically. SETTING: Participants were recruited from members of institutional review boards, academic and research staff of Addis Ababa and Jimma universities, research institutions and key development partners. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-six participants were involved in the study. They were purposively selected on the basis of their diverse research experiences and disciplinary profiles with clinical, biomedical and public health representation. DATA COLLECTION: Twenty-two key informant interviews were conducted with members of the institutional review board, community representatives in the institutional review board, community engagement officers, and research focal persons of the universities, research intuitions and key development partners. Fourteen participants who were senior PhD students or senior researchers in academic and research institutions were involved in the in-depth interviews. RESULTS: Despite differences of justification, all participants believed in the importance of the participating research community not only to own the research outcome but also contribute to the research planning, sharing of evidence, managing the research process and dissemination of findings. However, it was argued that lack of guidance, skills and experience on how to engage the community at different levels of the research process and limitation of resources affect community engagement in research. CONCLUSION: As an important component of the research process, community engagement facilitates the research process and ensures community ownership of the outcome. Nevertheless, lack of experience and limitation of resources affect operationalisation of community engagement in health research. This calls for building capacity and advocacy to consider community engagement as an integral component of the research process.