Innovative Dissemination
A note from the Faculty Director:
What does dissemination mean for Our Voice?
At Our Voice, we believe that dissemination—the broad sharing of learnings and impacts—is a critical element of community-engaged research. Far too often, dissemination is limited to academic publications and conferences and does not reach those who may benefit most from it, such as community members and other local stakeholders. We are bridging this gap by working with communities to produce innovative forms of dissemination. To illustrate this, here are a few examples of collaborative and creative products from Our Voice projects across our global network.
Dr. Abby King, Faculty Director
Examples of Innovative Dissemination
Interview with a Citizen Scientist
GirlTrek
Denver, USA
Youth-Produced Video
Glasgow Caledonian University
Glasgow, Scotland
Animated Video
Mälardalen University
Stockholm, Sweden
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“Putting it into Practice” - For Our Voice Projects
Dissemination Principles
1. Invest in Dissemination Planning from the Start
Recommendations for Our Voice Project Facilitators
- Create a flexible dissemination plan and timeline in collaboration with partners, considering a range of factors e.g. purpose, target audience, format
- Work with community members/groups to identify stakeholders who might be interested in co-developing, sharing, and/or receiving project results
2. Garner Support for Dissemination Efforts
- Include dissemination activities in the project budget (e.g., stipend for community artists, etc.)
- Discuss potential roles for shared responsibility for dissemination planning with a community leader or group (e.g., a specific subcommittee)
3. Engage Community Members and Partners in all Aspects of Dissemination
- Prompt citizen scientists to consider the following throughout the process:
- Who should see these data and/or hear this story?
- How can we best share with those who might be interested and/or can learn from our work?
- Who should see these data and/or hear this story?
4. Establish Consistent, Bi-Directional Communication around Dissemination
- Engage and inform citizen scientists about dissemination ideas and efforts regularly throughout the process
- Establish regular feedback channels for citizen scientists and other stakeholders around dissemination efforts
5. Build Community Trust through Transparency and Ethical Dissemination Practices
- Respect community co-ownership of their self-generated data and work with community to decide best approach for sharing
- Share past OV dissemination products with citizen scientists
- Invite project facilitators and citizen scientists to comment and make suggestions on draft dissemination products
6. Consider Multiple Audiences for Dissemination Products
- Explore pre-existing platforms for dissemination (e.g. public meetings and events, annual organization conferences)
- Reach out to community-minded intermediaries (e.g. journalists, science communication organizations, university public affair liaisons)
- Develop strategies for effective sharing with policymakers, elected officials, and other decision makers
- Ensure dissemination materials are accessible and tailored to diverse audiences (e.g., languages, literacy levels)
7. Employ Diverse Media to Share Learnings
- Engage and build on community strengths when creating dissemination products (e.g. employing community artists)
- Reach out to local media and social media outlets (e.g., invite to events, send press releases)
- Consider additional media advocacy strategies
8. Systematically Evaluate Dissemination Efforts
- Assess dissemination products for readability, accuracy, effectiveness, engagement, etc.
- Gather community perspectives on dissemination process and products and use feedback to refine over time
Related Work
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Vignesh Kumar presents dissemination research at a poster symposium for Stanford's HB-REX program
Vignesh Kumar, as an undergraduate summer intern through the Human Biology Research Exploration (HB-REX) program, presents his work with Our Voice at the 2023 HB-REX Poster Symposium. His project (i) developed evidence-based principles for community-engaged researchers to disseminate their findings in an innovative way and (ii) highlighted noteworthy success stories from past Our Voice projects.