Tuck, C., Gray, L., Akparibo, R. et al. (1 more author) (2025) Why do we need a shift to the transformative paradigm if we are to decolonise global public health? Global Health Research and Policy, 10. 46. ISSN: 2397-0642
Abstract
There is growing recognition of the need for global health and associated research to decolonise. Yet discourse so far has overlooked the role that research paradigms play within this. Left unaddressed, this omission could further engender hierarchical approaches in global health research. The transformative paradigm articulates the relationships between evidence, power and oppression. With this acknowledged can we strive for positive social change through research. In this commentary, we argue the importance of considering the transformative paradigm in efforts to decolonise global health research. We provide an initial overview of key terms in this debate, before exploring what is meant by a research paradigm in more detail and then arguing that a transformative paradigm offers unique and powerful opportunities to address enduring colonial inequities in global health research; we then illustrate how this was applied in a recent mised methods study which explored experiences and barriers to accessing cancer treatment in Ghana. We show how researcher asensitivity to historical injustices and community-based values were vital to our study design and also in specific methods like a participatory creative task and qualitative interviews. This commentary is important as part of the wider debate about decolonising global health and provides a unique critical insight into how research and how particularly research paradigms are of importance in this task, offering suggestions based on a transformative paradigm.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Medicine and Population Health |
Date Deposited: | 13 Aug 2025 09:21 |
Last Modified: | 29 Sep 2025 08:23 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | BMC |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1186/s41256-025-00443-9 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:229959 |