Lived Experiences of a Community: Merging Interpretive Phenomenology and Community-Based Participatory Research

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) and interpretive phenomenology, when merged, can provide insight into the experiences of a homogenous community. The purpose of this manuscript is 2-fold. First, we aim to provide a conceptual view of merging methodological approaches of phenomenology and CBPR. Principles of interpretive phenomenology, the philosophical stance, and the qualitative analysis methodology, as well as how interpretive phenomenology is complementary to CBPR, are reviewed. Second, the utility, rationale, and feasibility of merging these diverse approaches are explored. For illustrative purposes, exemplars from a Parkinson's disease stakeholder study are used to discuss aims, methods, and results. Focus group data collection strategies and the use of Template Analysis as an analytic tool are also described. Themes that materialized from the data focused on support group experiences for this rural community. In keeping with interpretive phenomenology, the researchers' interpretation of these themes led to the understanding of an overall essence, or essential theme, of this community's lived experiences.