Available in English and French, this interactive guide presents 21 challenges one can encounter when doing Organizational Participatory Research (OPR) and various ways to avoid or mitigate each of them. The content is based on a review of over 30 OPR publications. To maintain this guide up-to-date, we have implemented a search strategy, developed by a health librarian, in the collaborative research trend monitoring system © eSRAP.
What is Organizational Participatory Research (OPR)?
Participatory research is an approach in which researchers collaborate with people directly concerned by the research subject, such as health and social services staff or patients. Together, they participate in all stages of the research, from defining the questions to the results.
RPO focuses on implementing change within an organization, such as a clinic or hospital. Non-academic partners contribute their expertise to ensure that proposed changes, such as new practices or policies, are relevant and sustainable.
Jiahao Deng, M.Sc., Paula L. Bush, P.hD.
Succeeding in Organizational Participatory Research (OPR): 21 Challenges and Solutions © 2025 by Jiahao Deng, Paula L. Bush is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Want to get involved in this project? Please contact us at paula.bush@mcgill.ca.
An interactive guide to help you handle the challenges of OPR
Browse through this guide and discover, among other things,
- 21 challenges in 6 categories
- Equity and power imbalance
- The working group
- The work process
- The research
- Adaptations to the needs of partners
- Working group relationships
- Proposed solutions and concrete examples
- Definitions, resources and references