The Feasibility and Acceptability of a Community Science Approach to Explore Infant Formula Preparation Safety in the Home
Parents often seek out information about health and parenting topics, but despite this, there have been few attempts to actively engage them in the research process. We aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of using community science (CS) in a pilot study to explore infant formula prepar...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Ubiquity Press
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Citizen Science: Theory and Practice |
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| Online Access: | https://account.theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/index.php/up-j-cstp/article/view/692 |
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| author | Sara Jones Jonie Cooper Abbie Dolling Tara McNamara Susan Dvorak Vicky Sibson Amy Brown Emma Yhnell Phyll Buchanan Sharon Breward Rebecca Ellis Aimee Grant |
| author_facet | Sara Jones Jonie Cooper Abbie Dolling Tara McNamara Susan Dvorak Vicky Sibson Amy Brown Emma Yhnell Phyll Buchanan Sharon Breward Rebecca Ellis Aimee Grant |
| author_sort | Sara Jones |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Parents often seek out information about health and parenting topics, but despite this, there have been few attempts to actively engage them in the research process. We aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of using community science (CS) in a pilot study to explore infant formula preparation safety in the home in the United Kingdom. Parents were involved at each research stage, including (i) pre-funding consultation (n = 17), (ii) research design (n = 19), (iii) data generation (n = 151), (iv) research education (n = 8), (v) data analysis (n = 5), (vi) reflections on participation in CS (n = 151) and participation in the data analysis group (n = 5), and (vii) the development of research outputs (n = 5). Parents proposed that a closed Facebook group would be a feasible platform for CS. This had limited effectiveness in engaging parents in research design but was more successful in recruitment to the data generation stage. Many parents reported enjoyment in taking part and feeling valued for their knowledge, although for a minority, increased awareness of the risks of preparing infant formula caused distress. Research education engagement on social media was limited. The small data analysis group allowed for more in-depth contributions; however, facilitation was resource intensive so was necessarily limited. Participant fatigue is a risk in CS. Solutions to ongoing engagement, especially (in our case) with research education, are needed. Researchers must also mitigate harm to community scientists arising from their involvement in investigating sensitive topics. Existing research contexts created barriers, so in practice, more funding is needed to facilitate CS. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8d98d24965b14daa9c2e3abc94952f2f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2057-4991 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Ubiquity Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Citizen Science: Theory and Practice |
| spelling | doaj-art-8d98d24965b14daa9c2e3abc94952f2f2025-02-11T05:31:54ZengUbiquity PressCitizen Science: Theory and Practice2057-49912025-01-011013310.5334/cstp.692674The Feasibility and Acceptability of a Community Science Approach to Explore Infant Formula Preparation Safety in the HomeSara Jones0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2182-6314Jonie Cooper1Abbie Dolling2Tara McNamara3Susan Dvorak4Vicky Sibson5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5189-8883Amy Brown6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0438-0157Emma Yhnell7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3960-5181Phyll Buchanan8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1436-4396Sharon Breward9Rebecca Ellis10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7761-468XAimee Grant11https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7205-5869Swansea UniversityCommunity scientistCommunity scientistCommunity scientistCommunity scientistFirst Steps Nutrition TrustSwansea UniversityCardiff UniversityThe Breastfeeding NetworkBetsi Cadwaladr University Health BoardSwansea UniversitySwansea UniversityParents often seek out information about health and parenting topics, but despite this, there have been few attempts to actively engage them in the research process. We aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of using community science (CS) in a pilot study to explore infant formula preparation safety in the home in the United Kingdom. Parents were involved at each research stage, including (i) pre-funding consultation (n = 17), (ii) research design (n = 19), (iii) data generation (n = 151), (iv) research education (n = 8), (v) data analysis (n = 5), (vi) reflections on participation in CS (n = 151) and participation in the data analysis group (n = 5), and (vii) the development of research outputs (n = 5). Parents proposed that a closed Facebook group would be a feasible platform for CS. This had limited effectiveness in engaging parents in research design but was more successful in recruitment to the data generation stage. Many parents reported enjoyment in taking part and feeling valued for their knowledge, although for a minority, increased awareness of the risks of preparing infant formula caused distress. Research education engagement on social media was limited. The small data analysis group allowed for more in-depth contributions; however, facilitation was resource intensive so was necessarily limited. Participant fatigue is a risk in CS. Solutions to ongoing engagement, especially (in our case) with research education, are needed. Researchers must also mitigate harm to community scientists arising from their involvement in investigating sensitive topics. Existing research contexts created barriers, so in practice, more funding is needed to facilitate CS.https://account.theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/index.php/up-j-cstp/article/view/692community sciencecitizen scienceparticipatory researchinfant formulasocial media researchparenting research |
| spellingShingle | Sara Jones Jonie Cooper Abbie Dolling Tara McNamara Susan Dvorak Vicky Sibson Amy Brown Emma Yhnell Phyll Buchanan Sharon Breward Rebecca Ellis Aimee Grant The Feasibility and Acceptability of a Community Science Approach to Explore Infant Formula Preparation Safety in the Home Citizen Science: Theory and Practice community science citizen science participatory research infant formula social media research parenting research |
| title | The Feasibility and Acceptability of a Community Science Approach to Explore Infant Formula Preparation Safety in the Home |
| title_full | The Feasibility and Acceptability of a Community Science Approach to Explore Infant Formula Preparation Safety in the Home |
| title_fullStr | The Feasibility and Acceptability of a Community Science Approach to Explore Infant Formula Preparation Safety in the Home |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Feasibility and Acceptability of a Community Science Approach to Explore Infant Formula Preparation Safety in the Home |
| title_short | The Feasibility and Acceptability of a Community Science Approach to Explore Infant Formula Preparation Safety in the Home |
| title_sort | feasibility and acceptability of a community science approach to explore infant formula preparation safety in the home |
| topic | community science citizen science participatory research infant formula social media research parenting research |
| url | https://account.theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/index.php/up-j-cstp/article/view/692 |
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