Nurturing Acceptance for Research in the Community: Conceptualising Engagement Towards Research Through Normalisation Process Theory

Abstract

Background: Community-engaged research with immigrant and visible minority communities requires intentional strategies to foster acceptance, trust and sustained participation. Historically, research in marginalised communities has been extractive and externally driven, leading to mistrust and scepticism. Objectives: To address this, we applied Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) as a guiding framework to integrate research as a meaningful, community-driven practice rather than an extractive academic exercise. The objective of this paper is to describe how NPT can illuminate the social and relational processes involved in introducing, legitimising and maintaining collaborative research practices within a community. Methods: Using NPT's four constructs—Coherence (establishing the ‘why’), Cognitive Participation (generating the ‘will’), Collective Action (carrying out the ‘tasks’) and Reflexive Monitoring (reflecting and adapting)—we structured a phased approach to community engagement. Our initiatives included community-focused outreach, community organisation for capacity-building and collaborative research activities, all designed to shift research from being externally imposed to community-engaged. A key challenge was achieving initial acceptance of research within the community. Results: Through intentional outreach, inclusive recruitment and participatory knowledge production, we transitioned from establishing legitimacy to building long-term, community-driven partnerships. Conclusion: Our experience highlight the importance of embedding research within everyday community life, valuing local expertise and ensuring that knowledge production remains collaborative, accessible and action-oriented. This approach not only bridges the gap between academia and the community but also fosters equitable, enduring research relationships that lead to meaningful, sustainable impact. Patient or Public Contribution: While preparing this manuscript, we have partnered actively with community scholars and citizen researchers from the very beginning. We had regular interactions with them to get their valuable and insightful inputs in shaping our reflections. Their involvement as co-authors in this paper also provided a learning opportunity for them and facilitated them to gain insight into knowledge engagement. All authors support the greater community/citizen/public involvement in research in an equitable manner.