'You feel part of something bigger': Stakeholders' experiences of a long-term community-academic participatory research partnership
Abstract
Many community-academic partnerships are established to conduct meaningful research and practice. Yet, little is written about their sustainability and what does exist suggests that effective partnerships are hard to sustain. In this study, we sought insights into what might support successful, enduring community-academic partnerships focused on early childhood autism service provision. We conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 30 staff connected to a university-based early childhood service in education, allied health, management, and research roles, who had been involved in a decade-long community-academic partnership. We analysed the data using reflexive thematic analysis adopting an inductive approach. We identified three key themes. Staff shared strong values and commitments towards inclusive practice and evidence-based practice, which were embedded in the ethos of the partnership (Theme 1). They reported tangible, mutual benefits from working in partnership, with gains in learning and confidence supporting autistic children and families (Theme 2). Interviewees also highlighted the importance of strong equitable relationships, open communication, and fair processes, even if these were not always straightforward to achieve (Theme 3). These insights illustrate the value of ongoing monitoring of community-academic partnerships seeking to inform autism research programmes, policies and practices, while also building sustained community capacity.Lay…
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