PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH - REFLECTIONS ON CRITICAL INCIDENTS IN A PAR PROJECT

This article describes a participatory action research (PAR) project d esigned to evaluate Parent to Parent programs in five states in the Un ited States. The PAR team consisted of two groups: 1) parent lenders o f programs that create one-to-one matches between help-seeking parents of children with disabilities and volunteer supporting parents and 2) university-based researchers. Based on a narrative record of the proj ect, critical incidents are presented along with reflections of factor s that contributed to the success of the project overall. The project successfully gathered evaluative data about Parent to Parent self-help programs. Results of both the PAR project and the study it created ar e presented. A process of developing a shared understanding of the pro grams and of the purposes for evaluating them, along with an on-going willingness of parents and researchers to compromise, led to creative solutions to difficulties that arose in meeting the needs of researche rs and parents. As a result of the project, published data front a con trolled experimental study are now available showing that Parent to Pa rent assisted parents in developing more positive views of their circu mstances and a stronger sense of efficacy, in coping with family and c hild challenges. Interviews indicated some of the reasons why Parent t o Parent succeeds and fails. The study also revealed operational probl ems in the programs that were previously unrecognized. As a result of the project, the participating programs have inane several changes to improve their services and they have begun to use the research data to support their legitimacy to funders and to expand their services to n ew populations.