  Citation: Hearn, F.; Biggs, L.; Brown, S.; Tran, L.; Shwe, S.; Noe, T.M.P.; Toke, S.; Alqas Alias, M.; Essa, M.; Hydari, S.; et al. Having a Say in Research Directions: The Role of Community Researchers in Participatory Research with Communities of Refugee and Migrant Background. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 4844. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ijerph19084844 Academic Editor: Paul B. Tchounwou Received: 1 March 2022 Accepted: 7 April 2022 Published: 15 April 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Article Having a Say in Research Directions: The Role of Community Researchers in Participatory Research with Communities of Refugee and Migrant Background Fran Hearn 1, * , Laura Biggs 1 , Stephanie Brown 1,2,3,4 , Lien Tran 5,6 , Sherinald Shwe 1 , Ta Mwe Paw Noe 1 , Shadow Toke 1 , May Alqas Alias 1 , Maryaan Essa 1 , Shogoufa Hydari 1 , Josef Szwarc 7 and Elisha Riggs 1,2 1 Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Intergenerational Health, Melbourne 3052, Australia 2 Department of General Practice, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3052, Australia 3 Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3052, Australia 4 South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide 5001, Australia 5 Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3052, Australia 6 WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis, The Doherty Institute, Melbourne 3000, Australia 7 The Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture Inc., Brunswick 3056, Australia * Correspondence: fran.hearn@mcri.edu.au Abstract: Research teams in high-income countries often fail to acknowledge the capacity and contributions of Community Researchers. This qualitative exploratory study used decolonising methodology and the Foundation House ‘Refugee Recovery Framework’ to understand Community Researchers’ perceptions and experiences of their role, and how research teams can integrate the knowledge they bring into research. Purposive sampling was used to facilitate the recruitment of eight Community Researchers from five different community groups working in Melbourne, Victoria. Semi-structured interviews lasting forty to sixty minutes occurred between December 2020 and January 2021. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings reported in this paper include eight themes: ‘nothing about us without us’; ‘open the door’; a safe space to share; every step of the way; this does not translate; finding the right way to ask; a trauma-informed approach; and support within the workplace. The knowledge obtained demonstrates that Community Researchers facilitate meaningful participation in research for women, families, and communities of refugee or migrant background. Community Researchers’ presence, knowledge, and skills are vital in establishing culturally safe research practices and developing accessible language to facilitate conversations about sensitive research topics across multiple languages. Community Researchers can make important contributions at all stages of research, including data collection and interpretation. Keywords: community researcher; trauma-informed research; cross cultural research; refugee health; migrant health; decolonising methodology 1. Introduction 1.1. Research with Women, Families, and Communities of Refugee and Migrant Background In 2019, one in three women giving birth in Australia were born overseas, with the majority re-locating from non-English speaking countries [1]. The latest available census data shows that 73% of people who migrated to Australia with a permanent visa speak a language other than English at home, and this number increases to 94% for those with a humanitarian visa [2]. Women, families, and communities who are unable to speak or read English are often excluded from perinatal research due to the practical, methodological, and ethical complexities associated with working in a cross-cultural or multi-language context [3–6]. Other barriers to participation include culturally unsafe, inappropriate, or insensitive research practices that can feel disrespectful [3,4,6,7]. Facilitating meaningful access to research participation is critical to ensuring that research findings are relevant to the social and cultural context of refugee and migrant background communities [3,6,8]. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 4844. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19084844 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph