title: Evolving friendships and shifting ethical dilemmas: fieldworkers' experiences in a short term community based study in Kenya.
abstract: Fieldworkers (FWs) are community members employed by research teams to support access to participants, address language barriers, and advise on culturally appropriate research conduct. The critical role that FWs play in studies, and the range of practical and ethical dilemmas associated with their involvement, is increasingly recognised. In this paper, we draw on qualitative observation and interview data collected alongside a six month basic science study which involved a team of FWs regularly visiting 47 participating households in their homes. The qualitative study documented how relationships between field workers and research participants were initiated, developed and evolved over the course of the study, the shifting dilemmas FWs faced and how they handled them. Even in this one case study, we see how the complex and evolving relationships between fieldworkers and study participants had important implications for consent processes, access to benefits and mutual understanding and trust. While the precise issues that FWs face are likely to depend on the type of research and the context in which that research is being conducted, we argue that appropriate support for field workers is a key requirement to strengthen ethical research practice and for the long term sustainability of research programmes.
authors: KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, 230, Kilifi, Coast 80108, Kenya. dkamuya@kilifi.kemri-wellcome.org
authors: Dorcas M
authors: DM
authors: Kamuya
authors: Sally J
authors: SJ
authors: Theobald
authors: Patrick K
authors: PK
authors: Munywoki
authors: Dorothy
authors: D
authors: Koech
authors: Wenzel P
authors: WP
authors: Geissler
authors: Sassy C
authors: SC
authors: Molyneux
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000941:ethics* / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research / Q000941:ethics* / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D016265:Conflict of Interest; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D032984:Ethics, Research; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000941:ethics; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000941:ethics; D007630:Kenya; D017008:Negotiating; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012108:Research Personnel / Q000941:ethics*; D035844:Researcher-Subject Relations / Q000941:ethics*; D018357:Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D012136:Respiratory Syncytial Viruses / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D035502:Trust / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult