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Social action research in practice
Aerinn Morgan
Women's Health Statewide, SA
Abstract
This paper comes out of my experience of researching in the area of women and depression. The particular project I researched looked at developing an alternative treatment model for women experiencing the effects of depression and the ways in which this model could be used in practice (Morgan, 1997). This study was largely qualitative, although some quantitative methods were employed.
The model was developed in the initial stage of the project and was later trialed with four different groups of women. I approached managers in a range of different community health services to ask for their participation in the project by supporting their staff to run the groups. Four community health services, three metropolitan and one country, were prepared to offer management support to workers who were interested in participating in the project. The groups were all facilitated by workers at the community health services where the groups were held. The workers came from a variety of disciplines which included nursing, occupational therapy, psychology and social work. As the principal researcher I was not actively involved in the group processes except in the evaluation session that I conducted with each group. I was available to the workers for support in implementing the model.
The women and the workers in the groups all became involved in shaping the outcomes for each group and each group had different outcomes. One group in particular, continues to meet nearly sixteen months after the completion of the project. Its members have achieved outcomes for themselves that could not have been anticipated. The processes involved and the outcomes of this project for the women and workers, qualify it as an example of social action research. This paper is intended to describe the two main methods of social action research used in this project and to relate examples of how these were applied in practice.
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