Jean Ruiz

Funding agencies and the Tri-councils are calling for greater participation in research of community members and patient partners beyond simply participants or “human subjects”. The call goes beyond simply having an “advisory committee” that includes people that could potentially fit the inclusion criteria of a research project to including community partners during all stages of the research life-cycle as researchers with unique and valued perspectives and expertise. Traditionally, researchers and REBs have turned to the TCPS2 tutorial to help educate research teams about research ethics. Some academic institutions even require it of all researchers interacting with human participants. Many BC institutions are an example of this. However, in community-based research, it can be difficult to provide relevant and meaningful research ethics training for community-based researchers, i.e. patient partners, peer researchers, community partners etc. Using the Overdose Prevention Peer Research Assistant (OPPRA) program in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) as a case, we will present a different way to bring research ethics training to community researchers. The OPPRA program brings social justice to the focal point of research in the DTES and provides research and research ethics training to build capacity within the community. This takes research ethics training to something beyond what the TCPS2 tutorial offers to something that is directly relevant to the community. Details of a series of collaborative workshops about research ethics offered in the DTES will be presented along with learnt best practices. We will also discuss education examples for patient partners in hospital settings and in rural communities. Keywords: Community Based Research, Research Ethics Education, Peer Researchers, Patient Partners