In this episode we talk to Noela Gwani and Luret Lar about two participatory methods were used as part of the COUNTDOWN project in Nigeria to explore community structures and spaces; transect walks and social mapping.
We discuss how these methods can be used to:
- Facilitate community entry and raise awareness of projects
- Bring together diverse groups of community members to discuss their problems
- Identify structures that could be used in programme implementation
Dr Luret Lar
Dr Luret Lar is a medical doctor, consultant public health physician and a masters holder in international public health from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. She is currently a lecturer in the Department of Community Medicine, University of Jos; with interest in international public health.
For the past six years, Luret was the research manager for the couNTDown project, a multi-country and multidisciplinary implementation research. The project employed participatory methods to collaboratively design solutions to neglected tropical diseases programme challenges.
Lauret has been involved in local, regional and global research and networking focussed on community participation and health system’s strengthening.
Noela Gwani
Noela Gwani is a social scientist with experience of participatory, inclusive and qualitative research, She worked on the COUNTDOWN project as a Team Lead and collaborated with Ministries of Health to better engage communities and stakeholders in improving equitable Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) program delivery. Noela has been involved in the production and dissemination of research outputs such as practical tools to support participatory action planning, as well as case studies and blogs.
This is a podcast in the series: Connecting Citizens to Science, which focuses on health research based on equitable partnerships between researchers and communities.