The Art of Letting Go: Transforming Participatory Research on Adaptation Practices Among Local Livestock-Keepers in East Africa in Times of Covid-19

Participatory action research (PAR) puts high emphasis on the interaction of the research participants. However, with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, the central role of researchers in participatory research processes had to be questioned and revisited. New modes of PAR developed dynamically under the new circumstances created by the pandemic. To better understand how Covid-19 changed the way PAR is applied, we analyzed PAR in agricultural research for development carried out in the Programme for Climate-Smart Livestock Systems (PCSL) implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) at five research sites in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda. To understand how PAR changed in a component on adaptation research in the PCSL we facilitated a reflexive study with livestock keepers and researchers to document their experiences of PAR during the Covid-19 pandemic. The analytical framework focuses on highlighting the core characteristics and the underlying ethos of PAR in this case study. The lessons learnt in the process of adapting to the realities of doing participatory research in the middle of a pandemic provide important arguments for further amalgamating the PAR philosophy into similar research designs. The onset of the pandemic has led to a further decentering of the researcher and a shift of the focus to the citizen, in this case the local livestock keeper, that made it more participatory in the stricter interpretation of the term. Letting go of controlling both narrative and implementation of the research will be challenging for researchers in many research fields. However, this shift of power and this transformation of research methodologies is inevitable if the research should remain relevant and impactful. Ultimately, the transition into a Covid-19 future and the awareness that similar pandemics could dramatically interrupt our lives any time, will have an impact on how projects are designed and funded. More long-term funding and less pressure on providing immediate results can build community trust and ownership for research at a local level.

Cracks in the Success Narrative: Rethinking Failure in Design Research through a Retrospective Trioethnography

What can design researchers learn from our own and each other's failures? We explore “failure” expansively—turning away from tidy success narratives toward messy unfoldings and reflexive discomfort—through retrospective trioethnography. Our findings reflect on failures we identified in six past design research projects: issues of relational labor of deployment, mismatched designer/participant imaginaries, burden of participation, and invisibility of researcher labor. Our discussion contributes to broader reflections on shifting design research practice: (a) methodological considerations inviting others to engage failures through retrospective trioethnography, (b) letting go as a mode of research care, (c) possibilities for more candid research reporting, and (d) how centering failure may contribute to design justice by providing a technique for attending to harm and healing in design research practices. Throughout, we call for challenging success narratives in design research, and underscore the need for systemic changes in design research practice.

A Study of Faculty Retention Factors in Educational Institutes in Context With ABET

A typical higher education institute classically has all the five major constituents, i.e. current students, alumni, faculty members, employers and industrial advisory board. Expectations of the rest of the constituents are fully dependent on the faculty members, as they play a pivotal and backbone role in building up an educational institute, to a high repute. Faculty members provide the knowledge and skills necessary to students, to address market needs. Letting go of skilled, professional and enthusiastic faculty members can have a huge impact on any higher education institution’s reputation and in fulfilling the market needs. In this research, we explore the different influencing factors and criteria for retaining teaching staff at schools and higher education institutes. These criteria are then evaluated against Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) accredited institutes criteria data of “faculty” and “Institutional support,” to see the impact. Study shows that only very few faculty members leave the institution because of higher student-to-faculty ratio or denial of tenure. Also, most of institutions concentrate on providing reduced number of lecture hours per week to keep their faculty members happy and perform research at the institution. Out of 737 faculty members of 27 institutes included in this study, only 0.54% faculty members left ABET accredited institutions.

An early intervention for adolescent depression targeting emotional mental images and memory specificity: a process evaluation

We have evaluated a novel early intervention for adolescent depression (age 16–18) in a feasibility randomised controlled trial. This nested process evaluation aimed to understand how this complex intervention worked. We sought to understand participants’ views and experiences of receiving and interacting with the intervention to evaluate whether the underpinning theoretical basis of the intervention is justified and whether it contributes to valued outcomes for participants. Twelve participants were invited to take part in semi-structured interviews. Framework analysis was employed to identify important aspects of adolescents’ experiences. The active ingredients identified by participants were consistent with and extended our understanding of the theoretical basis of the intervention. Four principle themes were identified: understanding how memory works and being able to remember memories in more detail; processing negative experiences and letting go; imagining positive future events; and understanding and being kinder to myself. The outcomes of the intervention were valued by participants. Six principle themes were identified: improving mood and well-being; reducing impact of negative memories; motivation and goal-directed behaviour; overcoming avoidance and rumination; relationships, communication and being open; and self-understanding and acceptance. A simplified logic model is also proposed to connect the intervention components, active ingredients, and valued outcomes. The findings provide an in-depth understanding of how participants interacted with the intervention and what they derived from it. For example, the findings establish processing negative experiences as a core intervention component, extend it to include letting go of these memories, and highlight that reducing the impact of negative memories is valued by participants. This richer understanding guides further intervention development and future implementation.

Pathways to Acceptance in Participants of Advanced Cancer Online Support Groups

Background and Objectives: Individuals with cancer, especially advanced cancer, are faced with numerous difficulties associated with the disease, including an earlier death than expected. Those who are able to confront and accept the hardships associated with the disease in a way that aligns with their beliefs benefit from more positive psychological outcomes compared to those who are aware of their diagnosis but are unable to accept it. To date, there is limited research exploring factors contributing to illness and death acceptance in the context of advanced cancer in group therapy settings. Materials and Methods: The current study used a Directed Content Analysis approach on transcripts of online advanced cancer support groups to investigate if and how Yalom’s existential factors played a role in the emergence of acceptance. Results: The online support group platform, combined with the help of facilitators, offered supportive environments for individuals seeking help with cancer-related distress by helping patients move towards acceptance. Some participants had already begun the process of accepting their diagnosis before joining the group, others developed acceptance during the group process, while a few continued to be distressed. Our analysis revealed the emergence of four themes related to illness acceptance: (1) Facilitator-Initiated Discussion, including sub-themes of Mindfulness, Relaxation and Imagery, Changing Ways of Thinking, and Spirituality; (2) Personal attitudes, including sub-themes of Optimism and Letting Go of Control; (3) Supportive Environment, including the sub-themes of Providing Support to Others and Receiving Support from Others; and (4) Existential Experience, which included sub-themes of Living with the Diagnosis for an Extended Amount of Time, Legacy and Death Preparations, and Appreciating life. Conclusion: With a paradigm shift to online delivery of psychological services, recognizing factors that contribute to acceptance when dealing with advanced cancer may help inform clinical practices. Future studies should explore patient acceptance longitudinally to inform whether it emerges progressively, which has been suggested by Kübler-Ross.