Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37697394›Full record

ArticleResearch involvement and engagement2023

Lessons from conducting a participatory evaluation of a kinship navigator program.

Erika Moldow, Virgie M Anderson, Stephanie LaShay Benjamin, Barbara Patricia Johnson, Elizabeth McGuan, Donna Xenakis, Alexandra Piñeros Shields, Yanfeng Xu

Open access · goldAbstract readLetter
In one paragraph

Article in Research involvement and engagement, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 28% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Erika MoldowElm Consulting, LLC, Denver, CO, USA. erika@elm-consulting.net.
Virgie M AndersonHALOS, Charleston, SC, USA.
Stephanie LaShay BenjaminHALOS, Charleston, SC, USA.
Barbara Patricia JohnsonHALOS, Charleston, SC, USA.
Elizabeth McGuanHALOS, Charleston, SC, USA.
Donna XenakisHALOS, Charleston, SC, USA.
Alexandra Piñeros ShieldsHeller School for Social Policy, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA.
Yanfeng XuCollege of Social Work, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
Brandeis University · USLEK Consulting (United States) · USUniversity of South Carolina · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundApproximately one in ten children globally live with kinship caregivers-relatives and family friends who step in to care for a child when parents are unable to do so. When families take on the role of informal kinship care-care of a child outside of the child welfare system-they often do so without financial assistance and advice in navigating the systems of support available to them. This is the unique role of kinship navigator programs in the U.S: to provide kinship caregivers a single point of entry for connecting to needed resources such as financial, health, housing, and legal assistance.

methodsTo the best of our knowledge, our team conducted one of the only participatory evaluations in which kinship caregivers were involved in all stages of evaluating a kinship navigator program-from designing the questions, to collecting and analyzing the data, to reporting the results. Black kinship caregivers took on decision-making power leading this formative evaluation of a kinship navigator program within one nonprofit organization in a Southeastern state.

findingsIn this paper we reflect on our process and offer lessons learned from engaging in participatory evaluation that may apply to the field of kinship care and across social service delivery more broadly. We focus on (1) ensuring the nonprofit's commitment to the study, (2) maintaining engagement through building relationships and facilitating a culture of learning within the study team, (3) sharing decision-making power so that people with lived experience have the authority and ownership to lead the evaluation, (4) developing team members' skills, confidence, and sense of belonging, and (5) increasing the likelihood the nonprofit will act on the study findings.

conclusionThrough this process, we learned that participatory evaluation is a feasible and useful approach both to understanding the experiences of kinship families and to improving the supports in their lives. We hope this paper will inspire others to draw on the strengths and capacity of people with lived experience to engage in participatory evaluation. Greater recognition of the value of this approach in social change and increased funding to carry out the process are both needed.

Indexed as

Equitable evaluationKinship careKinship navigator programLived experienceMethodologyParticipatory evaluationProgram evaluationPublic involvement

Identifiers

PMID37697394
PMCPMC10496304
OpenAlexW4386609672

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.