First stop on my tour… Lancaster
June 15 2017
Merryn writes…
Being on study leave has provided a great opportunity to spread the word about our work and it’s been really pleasing to learn there is so much interest from our international colleagues. On Wednesday, I was invited to present by the International Observatory on End of Life Care, based at Lancaster University. In my talk I reflected on what we’ve learned by conducting our research within a bi-cultural framework. Ultimately I argued that working in this way supports all our work. For example, it prompts us to put relationships at the centre of everything we do, prioritise achieving real world impact for the communities we work with, and be open to different ways of thinking about the world. There was a great discussion afterwards with really interesting reflections from people who attended. We agreed there is a real need within palliative care to think more carefully about what research approaches are valued. Plans were developed to develop these ideas through research symposia and editorials so watch this space!
Working bi-culturally entials a commitment to:
Recognising power dynamics & research privilege
Answering questions about ‘who benefits’
Addressing questions of ‘ownership’ of research knowledge and outputs
‘Giving back’ to participants & communities (including, but going beyond accessible dissemination)
Recognising the expertise and resource held within individuals and communities
Learning as a team about ‘other ways of knowing and building cultural knowledge and competence
Being open to working differently