This book is to promote participatory research-a practically focused, rigorous approach to addressing core issues of concern to practitioners and recipients of care-as an appropriate research methodology within the field of palliative care...The book is divided into three sections. The first, Groundings, looks at the different theoretical frameworks of participatory research, each chapter illustrated with examples from actual participatory research. A desire for social justice seemed to be a recurring motivational theme. The second section describes exemplars of action research in palliative care - from improving bereavement support for people with intellectual disability in England, to improving pain management in Canadian long-term care facilities. The final section deals with issues in participatory research, including power, community, gender, as well as the rigour and quality of the research itself.
Roger Woodfruff for IAHPC Newsletter, April 2013