The National Institutes of Health - Health Promotion Program (NIH HPP) hosted Participatory Action Research (PAR) Practitioners from across the Philippines at a three-day Writeshop, held last December 11-13, 2023 at the Armada Hotel, Manila. The 23 participants formed 10 teams from various locations in Luzon (Laguna, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Romblon, and Marinduque), Visayas (Samar, and Southern Leyte), and Mindanao (Agusan del Norte)  with diverse topics of focus such as adolescent sexual and reproductive health, COVID-19 vaccine compliance, diarrhea and water sanitation, and community mental health programs, to name a few. PAR is a collaborative research approach that highlights community members doing research to address their concerns and drive social change. The workshop participants began their PAR projects in 2021, and are now at varying stages of completion. 

The writeshop was hosted, in collaboration with the Department of Health - Health Promotion Bureau, with resource speakers from the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Public Health, UP Manila.

Dr. Katherine Ann Reyes, Program Lead of the NIH HPP, has high hopes for PAR in the country. “HPP is very interested in growing the PAR Practitioners, it’s a COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE THAT WE HOPE TO CULTIVATE so that we are able to sustain the GENERATION OF KNOWLEDGE FROM THE COMMUNITY LEVEL, NOT JUST GENERATING KNOWLEDGE BUT ACTUALLY USING THAT KNOWLEDGE FOR CHANGE.” she said after the event.

Dr. Reyes reminded participants that even after this writeshop, researchers should promote and seek out more PAR Practitioners to truly foster a grassroots approach to health research and health promotion. The participants were also grateful for the joint effort of the NIH HPP and the DOH to provide avenues to build a community of practice. Ma. Christina Templanza-Ricon from Team Palawan pointed out “I believe that our programs and implementations should be data-driven, through this workshop, we’ll be able to enhance our abilities to conduct research.”

The workshop covered writing each section of a scientific journal article, ethics and plagiarism, and the process of publication in a reputable peer-reviewed journal. Mentors from the College of Arts and Sciences including Prof. Laufred Hernandez, Prof. Reynaldo Imperial, Prof. Marilyn Crisostomo, Prof. Calvin Delos Reyes, and  Prof Carl Antonio from the College of Public Health were the key resource speakers of the workshop. They continued to remind and assure all participants that “sama-sama tayo hanggang dulo” (we are together until the end). This encouraged the participants to complete the task of publishing, even when it was difficult, because they have the support of the UP Manila community.

Co-organizer and Senior Capacity Building, Policy, and Community Engagement Specialist Reiner Tamayo shared what HPP has in store for PAR: “This is the first of many workshops for PAR Practitioners in the country. Hopefully in the next few runs, we’ll have more people engaged from civil society, especially those from non-government organizations and community-based organizations.” 

The PAR Demonstration Projects will be published in a special issue in the Acta Medica Philippina.