This webpage is part of the broader Equitable Community Engagement Guide for Disability Inclusion. This Guide can also be accessed as a downloadable document: Equitable Community Engagement Guide for Disability Inclusion (MS Word).
These considerations when planning for community engagement are adapted from the International Association for Public Participation (Canada)’s principles for inclusive and equitable public participation - for more information, see IAP2 Inclusion and Equity in Public Participation (PDF).
1. Invest in on-going relationship building with members of the disability community to ensure trusting, equitable, and collaborative partnerships
A commitment to relationship building with both participants and partners is a vital part of respectful engagement and ensuring that the community engagement results in the sharing of authentic experiences, stories, and voices.
Before engaging, invest in time to learn about the cultures and histories of the community you hope to consult through meaningful conversation, literature reviews, or engaging with cultural and historical assets. Show respect and build trust by spending time with participants and partners and having conversations about the project and its mutual benefits.
Throughout the community engagement, continually connect with participants and partners to share current activities, learnings, and intermediate findings.
Ensure that the relationship does not end after the community engagement. Follow up with participants and partners to thank them for their participation, summarize findings and mutual benefits that occurred, and share how they can stay connected with the project and future actions.
Refer to A Pathway for Indigenous Community Engagement (Sharepoint) from the University of Waterloo Inclusive Research Hub for fundamentals of relationship building during community engagement.
2. Plan early and proactively for intersectional inclusion and equity, ensuring that community engagement is part of your project plan, timeline, and budget
Ask yourself:
- When would stakeholder input be beneficial?
- Are there multiple times when stakeholder input would be beneficial?
- Is there an opportunity to use feedback gathered for meaningful change in the project and its direction? (If not, feedback may be collected too late in the process.)
- Is there appropriate budget allocated to community engagement, including to build accessible spaces and compensate participants?
- What are the goals and objectives of the community engagement?
- Are all questions asked during the community engagement relevant to these goals and objectives? (ex. it is not always necessary to discuss both assigned sex at birth and gender). Consider the Inclusive Research Hub’s resource, General guidelines on asking for demographic information.
3. Demonstrate accountability and transparency in planning, reporting, and evaluation
Ask yourself:
- How often will you be checking in with engagement participants (ex. those in the focus group) and those in the broader community?
- How are you keeping the community informed of progress and/or changes in activities?
- What are the best communications platforms to engage with the community (ex. social media, website, town hall)?
4. Commit to ongoing learning that includes reevaluating and changing your processes in response to feedback
It is vitally important that community engagement participants have the opportunity to impact the project processes and outcomes. If new information is learned, either through formal community engagement or informal feedback, reevaluate the project’s processes.
Stay informed with new research or evolving best practices by connecting with the Office of Research or IAP2 Canada.
5. Consider the potential need for research ethics depending on your goals for communication and use.
6. Budgeting for Consultation
Consider the following potential budget items in advance of every community engagement. It is essential that accessibility is a proactive thought.
Potential Accessibility Budget Items
Note: this list is not exhaustive.
- ASL interpretation
- Closed captioning
- Assistive listening devices
- Communication Access Real-Time translation (CART)
- Materials in alternate formats
- Personal care attendants
- Room bookings
- Facilitator fees
- Technology support for live-streaming