Facilitators: Maïté Verloigne, Ghent University and Other SIG leaders
Description:
Using a participatory approach to develop and implement an intervention to promote healthy behaviour, is receiving increased attention in our field. The participatory approach entails a strong and active collaboration between academic researchers and important stakeholders (including the target group of the intervention) and ensures the intervention is tailored to the needs and characteristics of the stakeholders and the context in which it is being implemented. However, researchers often struggle with evaluating participatory studies, and more specifically with conducting a process evaluation, as it can be conducted differently than in more traditional research studies. Examples are that there are different “processes” that may be evaluated (i.e., not only the participatory developed intervention itself) and that process evaluation may provide iterative opportunities to gather input during the development of the intervention and adjust accordingly. Therefore, this workshop will focus on increasing skills on how to design a process evaluation of a participatory study, focusing on the what, when and how.
