Participatory Action Research

What is participatory action research and why it matters

Participatory action research (PAR) is about engaging and working with communities as partners and agents for change – especially those who experience the biggest challenges.

Instead of researchers making decisions alone, PAR shifts power by putting people with real-life experience at the centre of the research process.

Together, we explore issues that matter most to local people and turn ideas into action. This approach builds trust, challenges traditional research practices, and creates lasting solutions shaped by those who know their community best.

PAR drives real change by:

Amplifying voices

Ensuring local knowledge shapes understanding, decisions and action.

Challenging traditional research

Moving away from studying communities from the outside and towards shared ownership of the process.

Building trust and shared power

Creating genuine partnerships between communities, researchers, and service providers.

Focusing on local priorities

Grounding projects in what matters most to people in their everyday lives.

PAR isn’t just about understanding problems – it’s about solving them together in ways that are inclusive, empowering and long lasting.

How we use PAR

Ealing community action research is a new way of understanding and tackling health inequalities. Using a PAR approach, academic researchers, council staff and community researchers work side by side, drawing on diverse forms of lived experience and professional expertise.

In practice this means:

the issues we explore – and the actions we take – are shaped by those who know the community best
we bring lived experience together with commissioners, policy leads and other decision-makers to co-produce knowledge
the solutions we develop are more relevant, targeted and lasting, helping improve health and wellbeing for people across Ealing.

Our community researchers

As part of our current community action research project, we are working with 22 community researchers – people from across the borough who bring diverse experiences and a unique perspective to our work.

They were selected through a group interview process and trained by the Institute of Development Studies to gather stories and insights respectfully and safety.

Collecting stories from the community

Between January and July 2025, our researchers collected over 140 stories from local people. These stories reveal the events and factors that shape life in our borough – and highlight what needs to change to improve health and wellbeing.

Turning stories into action

From these stories, 6 key themes emerged:

Health issues linked to unsuitable housing including temporary accommodation.
Lack of youth spaces and activities, linked to antisocial behaviour.
Positive health and wellbeing linked to accessing green spaces.
Difficulty understanding the information and support available for parents with children with additional needs.
Language barriers linked to employment opportunities.
Domestic abuse linked to alcohol and drug misuse.