Collaborating to Care: Adapting Participatory Approaches in Malaysia to Centre Care Worker Perspectives in Creating Solutions for Crises

During COVID-19 and the transition to endemicity, women care workers in Malaysia from the public and private care sectors were pivotal frontliners. They shoulder the gendered and lingering pandemic’s impacts and the deepening effects of care sector issues shaped by under-recognition and undervaluation of their labour, impacting human health and equity. Our project investigates the interconnectedness of paid and unpaid care work to improve human health and equity by adapting participatory approaches (PA) to the Malaysian context to centre care workers’ voices in policymaking. The RE:CARE Project—a WomenRISE team funded by International Research Development Canada (IDRC) is driven by Women’s Aid Organisation, a Malaysian non-governmental organisation (NGO) with over forty years of experience responding to gender-based violence. In collaboration with academics and decision-makers in Malaysia and Canada, RE:CARE included and trained over 30 community practitioners as research associates with tailored approaches for meaningful participation. This engagement sheds light on the often-overlooked dynamics of participatory approaches. Various barriers and limitations emerged for different care worker communities, including resistance to participatory processes, time constraints, varying literacy levels, linguistic diversity, and bureaucratic hurdles. Nevertheless, research associates organised focus group discussions across Malaysia and collaborated in the data analysis process. NGOs are critical interlocutors because their deep comprehension of local dynamics, cultural nuances, and community-specific challenges enables them to facilitate effective communication between academics and the communities. Materials guided by feminist principles were produced in over five languages to maximise participation, decolonise and localise participatory approaches. Leveraging the NGO’s valuable knowledge advances research methodologies that synergise local knowledge and rigorous academic standards. Participatory approaches can be inclusive if flexible and adaptive to the socio-economic and cultural complexities to ensure their voices are accurately represented to improve human health and equity. Decolonising PA strengthens local capacities and fosters collaborative research, allowing affected communities to co-create relevant solutions.