Co-Constructing the Sacred: Why Research Methodology Matters
Sarah Barton, ThD, MS, OTR/L, BCP, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy and Theological Ethics, Duke University School of Medicine and Duke Divinity School; and Suvya Carroll, North Street Neighborhood & Reality Ministries, Durham, NC
When considering the sacred within the practice of medicine, how might researchers and clinicians draw upon the experiences of under-represented people and communities? What research trajectories make space for power-sharing and the co-construction of narratives about the sacred? How might scholars, clinicians, and patients across a wide range of health care contexts discover new ways to attend to the sacred in their midst? This paper takes up these questions, reflecting on an ongoing participatory research project about how patients and clinicians with disabilities encounter the sacred within contexts of modern Western medicine. These encounters with and constructions of the sacred among disabled patients and clinicians, shed light on how to resist dehumanizing aspects of modern medical care.
Various qualitative research methodologies seek to amplify the perspectives of under-represented groups, such as racial and gender minorities, as well as persons with disabilities. Methodologies such as inclusive research, stakeholder-engaged research, community-based participatory research, and participatory action research, help highlight under-appreciated or largely ignored perspectives to expand, challenge, and enliven scholarly inquiry at the intersections of medicine and religion. These research methodologies engage participants throughout the entire trajectory of the research process, including data collection, analysis, and dissemination (including publication). In this brief paper, we will explore the benefits of this research methodology when considering interdisciplinary questions related to both medicine and religion.
Drawing upon an example of an ongoing participatory action research collaboration between this paper’s two authors, we will illustrate how participatory research methodology allows for an expanded understanding of how disabled patients and clinicians alike discover the sacred within their relationships with each other and the healthcare system. Informed by the authors’ different experiences of disability, as well as their racial and religious identities, we will discuss how disabled co-constructions of the sacred might offer novel perspectives on relationships of care within modern medicine. The authors’ co-constructions of the sacred emerge from practices of accompaniment, interdependence, and truth-telling within the clinical space.
Learning Objectives
At this end of this paper, participants will…
1) describe key features of participatory action research
2) identify rationale for using participatory research in work at the intersections of medicine and religion
3) appreciate co-construction of the sacred in the paper's case example
Various qualitative research methodologies seek to amplify the perspectives of under-represented groups, such as racial and gender minorities, as well as persons with disabilities. Methodologies such as inclusive research, stakeholder-engaged research, community-based participatory research, and participatory action research, help highlight under-appreciated or largely ignored perspectives to expand, challenge, and enliven scholarly inquiry at the intersections of medicine and religion. These research methodologies engage participants throughout the entire trajectory of the research process, including data collection, analysis, and dissemination (including publication). In this brief paper, we will explore the benefits of this research methodology when considering interdisciplinary questions related to both medicine and religion.
Drawing upon an example of an ongoing participatory action research collaboration between this paper’s two authors, we will illustrate how participatory research methodology allows for an expanded understanding of how disabled patients and clinicians alike discover the sacred within their relationships with each other and the healthcare system. Informed by the authors’ different experiences of disability, as well as their racial and religious identities, we will discuss how disabled co-constructions of the sacred might offer novel perspectives on relationships of care within modern medicine. The authors’ co-constructions of the sacred emerge from practices of accompaniment, interdependence, and truth-telling within the clinical space.
Learning Objectives
At this end of this paper, participants will…
1) describe key features of participatory action research
2) identify rationale for using participatory research in work at the intersections of medicine and religion
3) appreciate co-construction of the sacred in the paper's case example