What does this research mean for the field?

Health researchers value public and community engagement for both intrinsic altruistic reasons and extrinsic practical benefits, but face significant personal, institutional, and structural barriers to integrating it into their research. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine how health researchers conceptualize community engagement, evaluate its impact, and navigate implementation barriers in complex research environments.

August 23, 2026Wellcome Open ResearchOpen Access

“We're supposed to serve the wider community.” A qualitative study exploring researchers’ perceptions and attitudes toward engagement in health research.

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Authors

CPChi Le PhuongOxford University Clinical Research Unit KRKatherine RoseOxford University Clinical Research Unit ADAlix Alicia Amelia DayOxford University Clinical Research Unit

Discussion

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Implication

Qualitative study reveals strong motivations alongside structural barriers to community engagement in health researchers, highlighting the need for dedicated funding and infrastructure.

Key Points

To examine how health researchers conceptualize community engagement, evaluate its impact, and navigate implementation barriers in complex research environments.
Qualitative formative study conducted across four Oxford University Clinical Research Unit sites in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Nepal.
Data gathered through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with health researchers representing diverse career stages.
Researchers across career stages strongly value engagement, driven by intrinsic motivations to improve scientific literacy and extrinsic benefits like enhanced participant recruitment and community trust.
Key implementation challenges include low individual confidence, absent strategic frameworks, limited dedicated funding, and misalignments between community needs and research objectives.

Cite This Study

Phuong et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a8aade47677a3411444668d https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.27406.1

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Implication

Qualitative study reveals strong motivations alongside structural barriers to community engagement in health researchers, highlighting the need for dedicated funding and infrastructure.

“We're supposed to serve the wider community.” A qualitative study exploring researchers’ perceptions and attitudes toward engagement in health research.

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

“We're supposed to serve the wider community.” A qualitative study exploring researchers’ perceptions and attitudes toward engagement in health research.

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Also Consider

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