Engaging Indigenous Youth in Community-Based Participatory Action Research: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) frameworks are becoming a leading strategy for conducting research with Indigenous communities and youth. Core features of CBPAR include respectful relationships with community members that establish a framework for authentic community leadership in research processes, including the development of research objectives and questions, the approaches and methods used, data analyses, and knowledge translation and action. Despite the promise of CBPAR approaches to increase community voice in research, in reality, various factors may influence the extent to which participants are engaged as decision-makers in research processes. This scoping review identified studies in the peer-reviewed academic literature in which Indigenous youth in both Canada and the US were involved as decision-makers in CBPAR projects. Findings suggest that CBPAR employs diverse strategies to engage youth as decision-makers and that youth may experience distinct positive outcomes associated with their participation in directing research processes.