Community Research Link Workers (CRLW)

Our experience with participatory research, as a methodology aimed at ensuring culturally appropriate research and research team diversity, has increasingly highlighted the value of the Community Researcher Link Worker role (CRLW). 

We saw the engagement of CRLW in research projects as something that will enhance the Deep End Research Alliance (DERA) team's efforts to enable research participation power in underserved communities in Yorkshire and Humber and adopted this in our recent projects. 

We designed adaptable CRLW training materials that will upskill individuals to facilitate focus group discussions and interviews in their communities, regardless of their academic backgrounds.

Through five different Deep End Research Alliance (DERA) projects, we have upskilled the research capacity of 20 individuals from a range of underserved ethnic communities with statistically lower rates of health literacy (African Caribbean, Black African, South Asian, Chinese, and Roma). We have directly empowered CRLWs to recruit participants, facilitate focus groups, and stimulate greater community involvement in health-based research (DERA).

The CRLWs indicated interest in research careers, and together with the community organisations we work with and other researchers, we are exploring opportunities to make this happen.