A map of the community was put on the table and we drew lines to indicate which part of the community would be involved in the research, as our community is quite big.
Before the trial started, the research team looked for active community organizations and visited local clinics, NGO’s, churches, schools and the Chief of the community. The research that we have conducted, was one of the first researches in our community. As we experienced that we’re working in a research-naïve setting, we first had to focus on research itself, before we could explain the planned trial. Within the community we held community discussions/meetings, whereby research was explained and during these meetings we looked for support and created an understanding among community members.
From key stakeholders in the community, who were very interested in the study, we created a Community Advisory Group (CAG), who helped us further in identifying stakeholders and community organizations and set up more activities within the community, where we could explain research and the planned trial. From other key stakeholders that showed great interest we also created a male involvement group, a key stakeholder group (who helps organizing events in the community) and other partner groups (who host events, whereby the research team is invited to present about the research).
These initial steps helped us a lot in starting the trial, recruiting participants and now by disseminating the results. It’s good to have support from the community!
