Applying systems leadership and participatory action research in developing a water contamination management tool

• Published in: The Australian journal of rural health 2023-02, Vol.31 (1), p.70-79
• Main Authors: Grey, Paul, Bettiol, Silvana, Quinn, Wendy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Barriers; Contaminated water; Contamination; decision‐making; Efficacy; faecal source tracking; Focus Groups; Food contamination; Health Services Research; Humans; Identification methods; Incentives; Interviews; Laboratories; Leadership; Microorganisms; Motivation; Participatory action research; Participatory research; public health; Qualitative Research; Research projects; service planning; stakeholder participation; Stakeholders; Surface water; System effectiveness; Tracking; Water management; Water pollution
• ISSN: 1038-5282; 1440-1584
• DOI: 10.1111/ajr.12912

Objective This research used systems leadership to explore stakeholder engagement regarding requirements, incentives and barriers to adopting a faecal source tracking method to identify contamination sources in surface waters. Setting The research comprised two branches, one quantitative, conducted in a food and water laboratory; the other qualitative, conducted within stakeholder organisations and meeting premises. Participants Ten stakeholder representatives participated in semi‐structured interviews and ten in a focus group. Seven individuals participated in both activities while three who were interviewed were replaced by alternate representatives for the focus group. Design A multimethod participatory action research project was completed, with a quantitative trial of a microbial source tracking method conducted concurrently with two iterations of qualitative research into the needs of the stakeholder system through semi‐structured interviews and a focus group. Results Thematic analysis of stakeholder interviews yielded key incentive and barrier themes, while the laboratory trial created a comparison library and tested the efficacy of the laboratory method. The focus group further explored key themes and identified requirements for collaborative effort across the system, and the need to address misinterpretation of statistical associations. Conclusion Systems leadership was effective in exploring stakeholder interest in the proposed faecal source tracking method. Two iterations of qualitative research helped to identify the needs of individual stakeholders, and then develop collective strategies for addressing the critical incentives and barriers.