Participatory Research Partnership in Rehabilitation

Abstract

The importance of utilising research-based knowledge increases with every leap of technological advancement, service system reform and unexpected upheaval. This rings particularly true in the everyday setting. Collaboration that allows stakeholders and citizens to actively participate in the rehabilitation research process is becoming a crucially important approach. In a collaborative research team, all members are seen as equal and reciprocal partners. This publication presents the idea, premise and development process of the Participatory Research Partnership model. The model describes collaboration in every phase of the research process, including developmental and ethical evaluation. In this model, research partners may be rehabilitation professionals, rehabilitees and their family members, or other actors whom the research topic concerns in some way. The model can be applied to a variety of approaches and methods of jointly conducted research. It is targeted at building a brighter future together and improving the relevance and accessibility of research data to help promote well-being, work capacity and functional capacity. The publication includes six templates through which you can apply the model in your own research project. The templates contain interactive sections consisting of text- and image boxes to be filled in. To do this you have to open the PDF-file with Adobe Acrobat Reader -program. To add an image, you need to be in PC or Mac-environment. The Participatory Research Partnership model was developed as a part of the REcoRDI project (Platform ecosystem for strengthening of RDI activities in multidisciplinary rehabilitation), which was launched to promote effective and high-quality applied research in the field of rehabilitation.