Western Journal of Nursing Research
Volume 25, Issue 7, 2003, Pages 815-834

Immigrant women implementing participatory research in health promotion (Article)

Meyer M.C. , Torres S. , Cermeño N. , MacLean L. , Monzón R.
  • a Gentium Consulting, Community Research, Community Health Research Unit
  • b Lat. Amer. Women's Support Org., United States
  • c Mujer Sana, Comunidad Sana
  • d Community Health Research Unit
  • e Lat. Amer. Women's Support Org., United States

Abstract

Few studies on women's health include immigrant women as participants, and fewer are conducted by immigrant women themselves. In this article, the authors present a model that allowed their full participation as researchers and authors. They describe their experiences using participatory research methods with Hispanic women in multiple ways to reach out to isolated women, collect data about community needs, and provide health education. They explore the advantages and challenges of being trained for both researcher and health educator roles, describe opportunities to use this approach to assess service needs, and discuss the potential for personal empowerment. They also report on the time commitment that such a bilingual project requires. In the process of interviewing marginalized women, they realized how much health promotion and participatory research complement each other. The authors conclude that combining participatory research with health promotion activities has promise to contribute toward increased empowerment of immigrant communities.

Author Keywords

immigrant women Community empowerment Bilingual Health education Participatory research

Index Keywords

education immigrant health promotion methodology community care human immigration middle aged medical research health service Aged Hispanic Americans interview Humans Hispanic female Socioeconomic Factors socioeconomics Women's Health Services Article organization and management experience adult health education migration health care access patient participation Emigration and Immigration Clinical Nursing Research health care need
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-0642370965&doi=10.1177%2f0193945903256707&partnerID=40&md5=00e1936540cf1a28528358e7f2899924
DOI: 10.1177/0193945903256707
ISSN: 01939459
Cited by: 29
Original Language: English