Participant Emotional Resiliency Check-In: A Research Technique

There is a well-established and growing literature on engaging and working with communities throughout the research process. Co-design and collaborative research are becoming common practice among researchers and increasingly a funding incentive and institutional commitment. Research methodologies have been created to formalize these processes and guide both new and experienced researchers wishing to engage in such research. However, gaps around process remain within the literature and research teams are often left to design their own techniques and protocols. Participant Emotional Resiliency Check-ins (PERCs), a term and research technique designed by the authors, aim to facilitate timely participant reflection on their emotional resiliency and to direct their participation in sensitive research accordingly. This research technique takes a strength-based and trauma-informed approach and most importantly is conducted by a peer worker. In this paper, we outline the PERC technique and identify its key features. We also share our considerations and learnings for other research teams wanting to engage in collaborative, sensitive research.