Understanding immigrant co-researcher experiences: impacts and co-developed recommendations

Community-engaged research (CEnR) with immigrants elicits relevant research questions, fosters high participant engagement, yields rich data interpretation, and improves the accuracy of findings. Although the contributions of co-researchers to research processes are well-documented, less attention has been paid to the personal impact of working on a CEnR team as a co-researcher. This study aimed to examine the experiences of immigrant community co-researchers as they worked on CEnR teams across the US and to develop best-practice recommendations for academic researchers and future co-researcher community-academic research teams. Fourteen co-researchers from partnerships across the United States completed semi-structured interviews in English and Spanish discussing their experience, benefits of participating in research, challenges, and recommendations for future research teams based on their prior encounters within academic research teams. Data were analyzed using codebook thematic analysis. Eight co-researchers who previously completed the preliminary interviews additionally participated in interpretation and dissemination sessions to refine findings and co-develop recommendations. Four themes characterized co-researcher experiences: research teams as communities, kindness and collaboration, a shared drive to learn and contribute, and persistent challenges. Co-developed recommendations emphasized the importance of fair compensation, cultural competency training, and safety measures, alongside adaptability and mutual respect in research partnerships. This study extends prior work by examining co-researcher experiences across multiple projects and contexts and by generating co-researcher-driven recommendations for immigrant-focused CEnR. Findings highlight the value of centering co-researcher perspectives to inform more equitable and effective research partnerships and provide practical guidance for teams seeking to strengthen community-engaged approaches. Community-engaged research (CEnR) involves community members working as partners on research teams. This approach helps researchers better understand community perspectives and produce more useful findings. However, less is known about how this work affects the community members who serve as co-researchers. In this study, we interviewed 14 immigrant co-researchers about their experiences working on research teams across the United States. Interviews were completed in English or Spanish and focused on the benefits, challenges, and suggestions for improving these partnerships. We identified four main themes: research teams felt like communities, kindness and collaboration were important for success, co-researchers were motivated to learn and give back, and challenges still existed despite shared backgrounds. Eight of the co-researchers who conducted the first interview also participated in group sessions to interpret the data and develop recommendations for future research teams. These recommendations highlighted the importance of fair payment, cultural awareness, clear communication, flexibility, and attention to safety and well-being. These findings can help researchers and community members work together more effectively and fairly. They also provide practical guidance for improving community-engaged research with immigrant communities.