Easy-to-Read enables Participatory Social Research

Abstract

Participation requires decision-making power. Decision-making power requires understanding. Understanding requires accessible information. Easy-to-Read can help to make information accessible for a wide range of target groups, especially for people with cognitive disabilities. The goal of Participatory Research is to maximize the participation of those whose life or work is the subject of the research. This paper follows the understanding of Participatory Research as a research paradigm claimed by the International Collaboration for Participatory Health Research (ICPHR). To make participation of people who are belonging to a certain target group at all possible, comprehensive information has to be accessible for all members of the research group. Participation in this sense means to give decision-making authority to the target group [1]. Decision making authority requires understanding and knowledge about the research issue, the process, and transparent distribution of competences in the first place. Responsible decisions can only be made with enough knowledge about the possible impacts of the decision. Participatory social research with people with cognitive disabilities means to qualify them to influence the research process and make decisions on well-informed and equal bases. A key factor in this process is Easy-to-Read information. The main objective of Easy-to-Read and the "capito"-network is to make information accessible for a defined target group [2]. The "capito"-method therefore developed a set of criteria, a quality standard and a protected seal of quality, which is only given when the text is reviewed by representatives of the target group. This paper discusses how Easy-to-Read can enable Participatory Research by empowering co-researchers with non-scientific background by providing accessible information. It shows an example of a participatory research group that consists of people with cognitive disabilities and social scientists. Frame conditions, used methods and challenges in practice are described in this paper.