“Will I Be Celebrated at the End of This Training?” Inclusive Research in Kenya

Rachael W. Wanjagua (), Lieke van Heumen and Sarah Parker Harris
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Rachael W. Wanjagua: Department of Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1640 W. Roosevelt RD, Chicago, IL 60608, USA
Lieke van Heumen: Department of Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1640 W. Roosevelt RD, Chicago, IL 60608, USA
Sarah Parker Harris: Department of Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1640 W. Roosevelt RD, Chicago, IL 60608, USA

Social Sciences, 2024, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: The development and practice of inclusive research with people with intellectual disabilities is complex, revealing challenges and lessons that inform innovative and novel methodological approaches. In Africa, inclusive research still lags for various reasons. First, due to societal misconceptions that portray people with intellectual disabilities as unable to self-advocate or as lacking agency and self-determination; second, due to a lack of trained researchers and ethics committees on inclusive research practices. This paper critically reflects on and discusses the strategies and methods used to conduct an inclusive research study in Kenya. The focus was on the methodological approach of including people with intellectual disabilities as researchers in Kenya. Two people with intellectual disabilities were trained as research assistants. This paper describes the experiences with Institutional Review Boards, the processes and experiences while training this research assistants using a UK-developed curriculum, and fieldwork experiences while piloting interview guides, conducting interviews, and conducting focus groups with this research assistants. This study findings indicate the need to culturally adapt co-researcher training, the importance of working with support personnel who empower researchers with intellectual disabilities, and the need for greater advocacy to change negative attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities that hinder their participation in research.

Keywords: inclusive research; Africa; intellectual disabilities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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