Using Participatory Approaches with Older People in a Residential Home in Guyana: Challenges and Tensions
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Using Participatory Approaches with Older People in a Residential Home in Guyana: Challenges and Tensions Gillian Hewitt & Alizon K. Draper & Suraiya Ismail
Published online: 10 November 2012 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2012
Abstract Participatory approaches are a popular and entrenched strategy in community development, yet a number of unresolved issues and tensions persist regarding the definition, rationales, outcomes and ethics of participation. Despite its popularity there are relatively few examples of participatory projects with older people or in institutional settings so their potential with this group is poorly understood. This case study presents some of the practical and ethical challenges that arose over the course of a participatory project that aimed to analyse and improve quality of life in a residential home for older people in Guyana. Through a qualitative process evaluation it examines the degree of participation achieved, the determinants of the participatory process, the benefits the approach brought and the ethical dilemmas encountered. Although the degree of participation achieved was limited, beneficial outcomes were observed, notably the selection of appropriate and desirable interventions and the effect on the residents themselves, who valued their part in the project. The participatory process was unpredictable and complex, however, and key determinants of it included the organizational dynamics of the home and the skills, actions and attitudes of the researcher. Adopting a participatory approach brought valuable benefits in a residential home, but others adopting the approach should ensure they critically consider at the outset the ethical and practical dilemmas the setting and approach may produce and have realistic expectations of participation. Keywords Guyana . Participation . Process evaluation . Residential homes
Introduction Residential homes for older people have existed in developing countries for decades (Nyanguru 1987). Whilst a relatively small body of research on community-dwelling older people in developing countries exists, research in residential homes is sparse and extends little beyond cross-sectional surveys. Conditions in residential homes may be poor and a
G. Hewitt (*) : A. K. Draper : S. Ismail School of Life Sciences, University of Westminster, 115 New Cavendish Street, London W1W 6UW, UK e-mail: [email protected]
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J Cross Cult Gerontol (2013) 28:1–25
participatory approach is a possible means by which quality of life can be defined by the residents and improved, but its potential in institutional settings is largely unexplored. The participation of individuals and communities in development takes many forms and this presents challenges around how to define it (Mahoney et al. 2007; Draper et al. 2010). Broadly speaking, however, participatory approaches aim to understand the views and values of a project’s intended beneficiaries and to work with them to analyse problems and identify and implement solutions, thus avoiding the ‘top down’
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