CPUT recently hosted the 4th annual Human Research Ethics Committee Workshop.
The event was hosted for the first time in 2016 by Stellenbosch University, with the purpose of bringing together the Human Research Ethics Committees of the region to discuss ethical matters and how ethics committees can or should handle them, said Dr Dirk Bester, Faculty Research Coordinator in the Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences.
“The theme of this year’s discussions was centred on the ethics of community-based research.”
CPUT, the University of the Western Cape, Stellenbosch University, University of Cape Town and the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) were represented at the workshop.
The opening address was delivered by Professor Hilde Ibsen from Karlstad University in Sweden.
She focussed on her research experiences in a current co-creation research project which she and Professor Engel-Hills, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences are collaborating on.
Dr Navindhra Naidoo from the Emergency Medical Sciences Department facilitated a session on participatory methods using case studies.
“The workshop was of a participatory nature, allowing all in attendance to contribute to the discussion,” Bester said.
He said many relevant issues such as co-creation, researcher intervention in community ailments, responsibilities of researchers to communities, the role of ethics committees in protecting communities among others were discussed at length.
The 5th Regional Human Research Ethics Committee Workshop will be hosted by the SAMRC in 2020.
