Common Ground and Cross-over
These identified areas are provided as frames for discussion. An actual proposal could span several of these areas. (For example, a proposal on the interface of religion in health systems and services in the USA and Africa, would also necessarily require a better understanding of RHAs and engagement with health policy.)
There are also several key areas of investigation and theoretical assumptions that cross over these research areas. All areas make it necessary to:
| CROSS-CUTTING CONCERNS & COMMITMENTS |
| BETTER THEORY | BETTER TOOLS | BETTER WORDS |
Some of the theoretical underpinnings and commitments made by the IRHAP network:
- A commitment to the establishment of a systematic evidence base of religious health assets: and an interest in better understanding what these RHAs are, how they work, and what potential exists for strengthening them without undermining the very things they offer or destroying them through inappropriate interventions or engagements.
- A commitment to the development of evidence-based research that is also cognisant of complexity and context.
- Broadly address health and society as a justice issue. To promote sustainable health, especially for those who live in poverty or under marginal conditions.
- Take a non-partisan, interfaith and ecumenical perspective on religion.
- Seek to counter-balance the current bias of the broad literature (which generally leans towards English materials on the Christian response to HIV and AIDS in Africa), by seeking materials in other languages, by considering other faith traditions, worldviews and contexts.
- Seek to be cognisant of power inequalities and gender dynamics
- Seek to be aware of the power of language, and the need to seek common ground and a common language.
- To sustain an assets-based (positive) view of religious initiatives in health, but balance this with a clear grasp of the limits and possible negative impact of both religious (and public health) practices in particular contexts.
- Seek to develop more effective research tools and methods.
- Share a commitment to collaboration and an ethic of shared wisdom.
- A commitment to interdisciplinary problem-focused research that brings together diverse disciplines and perspectives, seeking shared understanding and common ground.
- An intentionality towards integration, dialogue and finding a common language as a strategy for improved collaboration, presupposing 'co-literacy', an ability to understand the language of the other party, and a conceptual vocabulary capable of bridging the professional, technical and ordinary languages of different actors.
- A shared commitment to non-extractive research that has some consideration for the engagement of communities involved in any empirical research undertaken.
- Collaboration and relationship building is assumed to be a broad but important outcome of this research engagement.
- Commitment to capacity-building is assumed (of stakeholders, students, researchers and involved communities) and the development of a collaborative network that extends beyond the project time-frame.
- A commitment to the development of 'Southern' and local capacity, including local research capacity, student development and support.
- To assist in aligning and enhancing the work of both religious health leaders and public policy makers in their collaborative effort to meet the challenge of disease.
What holds the diverse IRHAP network together is a set of shared assumptions that provide common ground. For example that: religious entities are widely present on the ground in many contexts where health crises are most urgent. That no matter how impoverished, under-resourced or isolated such faith based entities might be, they nevertheless represent or contribute major assets to health in their contexts. That these assets are both tangible and intangible. That they have a public impact on health (besides providing particular health services). That they need to be understood in relation to each other, as part of a complex and significant social reality. That properly assessing, appreciating and enhancing their potential will produce better alignment between public health interventions and the religious structures with which they might partner.
An important area of work for the IRHAP collaboration is the continued focus on developing theoretical frameworks which bind together sometimes opposing frames of reference and bodies of research. Such theoretical frameworks result in interdisciplinary questions and sets of research tools.
This remains a primary focus of the IRHAP work - both in relation to specific theory development, and in relation to challenging international research agendas.
Research tools are constantly being tested and developed within the IRHAP research framework. Emerging theory is reflected in the testing and shaping of new interdisciplinary research and engagement tools - especially those that seek to straddle the intersection between quantitative-qualitative interests, or between public health and theological interests. Some ongoing tool-related concerns:
Community Mapping and Engagement Tools
- PIRHANA (Participatory Inquiry Into Religious Health Assets Networks and Agency): the community asset mapping and engagement toolset 'PIRHANA' was developed for work undertaken by ARHAP for the World Health Organisation in 2006. It was piloted by Steve de Gruchy with an ARHAP team during field research in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia (in 2005). Since then, and in line with the nature of participatory research, PIRHANA has continued to be be subjected to rigorous critique and undergone several versions in order to integrate the lessons learned in the field. There are now a number of different varieties of the original toolset, as PIRHANA has been taken and adapted by IRHAP partners in: Zambia, Lesotho, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Botswana, Memphis, Atlanta and Chicago.
Leadership Engagement Tools
- A number of research tools have been developed for leadership practice-research engagement in different settings.
Co-literacy Training
- A curriculum is under continued development - intended to build capacity of 'co-literacy' in religious and health leadership.
Interdisciplinary Process
- IRHAP continues to refine collaborative processes, language and tools that intentionally seek to integrate opposing perspectives: for example, quantitative-qualitative interface.
The collaborative is intentional about integration, 'dialogue' and finding a common language as a strategy for improved collaboration, presupposing 'co-literacy', an ability to understand the language of the other party, and a conceptual vocabulary capable of bridging the professional, technical and ordinary languages of different actors. Several ongoing projects are aimed at facilitating this process:
