Participatory evaluation of a community-led intervention to improve indigenous wellbeing in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala

Katherine Pizarro, doctoral candidate in the Division of Social & Transcultural Psychiatry
at McGill University

Throughout my PhD, I have been collaborating with project Buena Semilla in Guatemala to develop a participatory, community-led intervention to address the social determinants of indigenous wellbeing in marginalized indigenous communities in Santiago Atitlán, Sololá, Guatemala. I returned to Guatemala for the final phase of my fieldwork to carry out an evaluation of the pilot intervention. I planned a participatory group evaluation activity (Cornwall & Aghajanian, 2017) and worked together with local project coordinators to adapt it to the local context and implement it in each of the participating community groups. I also interviewed local coordinators about their reflections on the research and intervention process.

As this was the first time using the chosen participatory evaluation strategy in this context, adaptations were required before and throughout its implementation. My involvement during this process reinforced the importance of involving the local project team in adjusting research methods to local realities and cultural contexts. Through observations and feedback from local coordinators, I witnessed how crucial it was to create a space for participants to reflect on their experience, self-evaluate strategies implemented thus far, and brainstorm strategies for improvement in the future. Participation in the evaluation activity encouraged participants to think about what external inputs would be required to sustain and improve the program versus what they could accomplish on their own, making it an important strategy for encouraging participants to take ownership of the program and its trajectory.

Many global health programs approach evaluation simply as a means for researchers and external funders to assess the impact of an intervention, or at most, as a way for researchers to learn lessons about program successes and challenges to refine the program when scaling up. My experience reinforced the importance of shifting this focus to involving program participants themselves in reflecting on the program successes and challenges so that they could be active participants in shaping the trajectory of the program moving forward. The experience has solidified my dedication to using participatory research methods when working in global health contexts throughout my career and encouraged me to advocate for wider incorporation of participatory evaluation approaches.

Katherine Pizarro is a doctoral candidate in the Division of Social & Transcultural Psychiatry at McGill University. Her research uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to understand the social and cultural aspects of health behaviors and mental health. She has conducted research to inform the design and evaluation of public health programs in diverse international settings. Her doctoral research takes a participatory research approach to developing and evaluating a program to address the social determinants of mental health and wellbeing among indigenous populations in Guatemala. She is particularly interested in understanding local constructions of mental health and wellbeing, and how those understandings can guide the development and implementation of mental health promotion interventions internationally. She is a recipient of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship.

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To learn more about the project, visit: https://buena-semilla.org/deliberative-dialogue/ To donate to the project, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/supporting-women-circles-in-times-of-covid19?member=4042448&utm_medium=email&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_email%2Binvitesupporters

Reference:

Cornwall, A., & Aghajanian, A. (2017). How to find out what’s really going on: Understanding impact through participatory process evaluation. World Development, 99, 173-185.