Lessons learnt from a community-based participatory research project in a South African rural context

The Railton Community Assessment Project constituted a community-based, participatory form of research that sought to identify community needs and assets for the purposes of prioritising actions to support community development planning and funding allocation in a local community in a South African rural context. The research design, which included 11 research phases, each including a number of research activities, was collaboratively developed and implemented collectively. The design included the establishment of a collaborative planning and accountability forum; interviews with key informants; a stratified household survey; community asset-mapping workshops with youth, adults, elders, and services providers; and community feedback processes. The findings of the research highlighted a number of community assets and needs which were directly linked to the identification of priority actions and recommendations by the community. The major strength of this study was its successful application of a Community-Based Participatory Research approach, which constitutes a particular focus for this article. Furthermore, this case study provides a useful example of how psychologists can contribute their knowledge and skills to promote general community well-being.