Reaching the Hard-to-Reach: Conducting Research on Elder Abuse in Toronto's Arab Community
2019
This case from the Western Public Health Casebook 2019 introduces readers to commonly encountered challenges that researchers run into when working with hard-to-reach and vulnerable populations. Caroline Rochester recently accepted a role as a research coordinator for the Elder Abuse Project at Rudyard University working to identify the risk factors associated with elder abuse in the Arab communities of Canada. However, the project has run into problems. The addition of new participants has stalled due to mistrust of the research process and there is a lack of meaningful relationships between the coordinators and participants. The team’s failure to consider cultural norms has clearly impeded the progress of the project. This case highlights the importance of cultural competence in research practices, as it is an extremely important aspect of research methodology.
This case contains guidance for instructors, including learning objectives and discussion questions. It is part of a 14-case collection written by students in the MPH class of the Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health at Western University, Canada. The cases may be freely copied and used for educational purposes by an accredited educational institution.
Reaching the Hard-to-Reach: Conducting Research on Elder Abuse in Toronto's Arab Community
Source:
Maelzer M et al. Reaching the Hard-to-Reach: Conducting Research on Elder Abuse in Toronto’s Arab Community. Western Public Health Casebook 2019. Public Health Casebook Publishing 2019. https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/publichealth/cases/casebook_2019.html.