Lessons Learned in Implementing Youth and Parent Participatory Action Research in a School-Based Intervention

Background: Participatory action research (PAR) empowers youth and parent stakeholders to address school connectedness and school environment inequities to improve educational social determinants of health. Objectives: To identify lessons learned when implementing school-based youth and parent PAR (YPAR and PPAR) targeting health and academic outcomes for Indigenous students and students of color. Methods: We collected data from five community-academic research team members who coordinated YPAR and PPAR implementation across five middle and high schools and used thematic analysis with deductive and inductive coding to identify contributors to successful PAR implementation. Results: Experiential learning strengthened youth and parent researcher skills and maintained their engagement, community-building supported the PAR process, PAR required support from facilitators with diverse skill sets, and individuals in bridging roles positioned researchers for success within institutions. Conclusions: PAR holds promise for application in other settings to address institutional change and social determinants of health.