‘There and back again’: International Collaboration for Participatory Health Researchers’ journeys to evidence based practice and practice based evidence

Abstract

Based on oral histories, this paper outlines the individual and collective stories of eight members of the International Collaboration for Participa-tory Health Research (ICPHR): how they came to embrace participatory action research within a health context; challenges they faced; and how they came together to strengthen and develop their understanding of their research practice. In particular, their collaboration provided for discourse around research rigour related to community relevance and impact. While they initially formed the ICPHR in response to Evidence Based Practice imperatives, they came instead to understand their work more as Practice Based Evidence.