Collective Empowerment while Creating Knowledge: A Case Study of Community-Based Participatory Research with Injection Drug Users in Bangkok, Thailand

In August 2008, researchers at British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, in collaboration with Mit Sampan Harm Reduction Center (MSHRC) and Chulalongkorn University, undertook a community-based research project involving people who inject drugs in Bangkok, Thailand. The MSHRC is a drug-user led drop-in center serving local drug users. The goals of the project were to connect people with the MSHRC and gather information about the experiences of people who inject drugs. The peer researchers successfully recruited 252 participants, including 178 participants who were new to MSHRC. Following the project, there has been an increase in the number of people coming to the MSHRC. This experience shows that community-based research projects can promote community empowerment and access to services while obtaining valuable research data.

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