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« Back to NewsUsing effective media strategies to bridge gaps to hard-to-reach populations: case studies in Vietnam and Indonesia
25 June 2025
OUCRU has developed culturally tailored strategies to improve vaccine communication and uptake in diverse communities across Vietnam and Indonesia. From training village health collaborators and co-creating storytelling films in Dak Lak to animated videos for malaria trial recruitment among Indonesian soldiers, these efforts highlight the power of locally relevant, creative engagement. By addressing structural barriers, cultural sensitivities and trust, OUCRU’s initiatives demonstrate how community-informed approaches can enhance public health research and support better health outcomes.
Circus arts shine spotlight on AMR in Cambodian communities
4 June 2025
In May 2025, circus performances were used to educate Cambodian youth on the correct use of antibiotics. Misuse of antibiotics is a major driver of bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) worldwide. The wide availability of antibiotics over the counter in Cambodia and linguistic issues make it difficult for younger Cambodians to understand when antibiotic use is appropriate.
MORU-Oxford Engagement Meeting
8 April 2025
On 27 March, members of the Public and Community Engagement with Research (PCER) team at the University of Oxford met with MORU colleagues and other engagement colleagues from the University. The session focused on sharing strategies for community engagement, evaluating engagement, and exploring opportunities for future collaboration.
AMR booklet by Shuma Banik
3 December 2024
IHTM alumna, Shuma Banik, has written and painted a booklet about the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Assam, India.
The Important Role of Young People in Tackling AMR
20 November 2024
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health and socioeconomic crisis. Regardless of its impact on human and animal health, food production, and the environment that could happen to everyone, everywhere, there’s still much to be done to raise public and stakeholder awareness. A global online survey of nearly 200 stakeholders from human, animal, plant, and environmental health sectors also highlighted the need for increased public awareness and action.
Dialogue drama on adolescent pregnancy in a marginalised migrant population on the Thailand-Myanmar border
20 November 2024
A participatory-action approach involving community members and adolescents resulted in a dialogue-drama on adolescent pregnancy, contraception, and choice in the event of an unplanned pregnancy. The dialogue-drama augmented discussion of traditionally taboo issues and this ethnographic method is potentially useful for similar global health settings.
Forum Theatre: Exploring Community’s Power and Raising Awareness
23 October 2024
Forum Theatre, a branch of the so-called Theatre of the Oppressed, is an interactive and participatory form of theatre developed by Brazilian theatre practitioner Augusto Boal in the 1970s. This unique approach has the potential to explore a community’s voice and raise awareness by empowering people with a tool that encourages them to change reality through their own suggestions for real social issues.
Youth Ambassadors Aim to Raise Tetanus Awareness Through Public and Community Engagement Activities
24 September 2024
OUCRU Youth Science Ambassadors (YSA) project, launched in 2021, has become a key youth engagement activities of OUCRU’s Public and Community Engagement Group. Becoming part of the project, young participants are empowered to lead, propose, plan, and execute their own initiatives addressing specific issues they identify themselves.
KWTRP exhibits at the Kenya National Research Festival 2024
12 September 2024
KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) hosted an exhibition as part of the British High Commission Pavilion during the Kenya National Research Festival 2024. Under the theme “Research Partnerships and collaborations for Socio-Economic Transformation” the festival aimed to raise awareness about the diverse spectrum of research activities in Kenya and internationally encouraging collaboration.
Community Engagement and Involvement: Enhancing Research Impact
31 July 2024
At OUCRU, we have integrated public and community engagement projects into our research program since 2011. But what exactly is community engagement (and involvement), and why is it important to global health research? Let’s take a look at the summary of a new free course on MESH, a community engagement knowledge and professional support hub by The Global Health Network, and the research outputs made by and led by community members at OUCRU throughout the years to find out.
Visit MalariaWorld
24 July 2024
The Malariaworld exhibition was developed in conjunction with World Malaria Day 2024 to raise awareness of malaria and malaria research, and to highlight some of our contributions to malaria research. You can now visit our virtual exhibition!
OUCRU welcomed ASEAN Social Impact Program students for a Science Visit
31 May 2024
On 31st May, the Public and Community Engagement Group at OUCRU re-launched the Science Visit project. This event saw 25 enthusiastic students from Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, the Phillipines, and Cambodia. This student group is a part of the ASEAN Social Impact Program (ASIP), visit OUCRU. They joined a lab tour and participated in several group games centered around the clinical trials process.
Nurturing Future Generations’ Passion for Science through Engagement with Children and Teachers
30 May 2024
At OUCRU, we believe that science can excite and inspire children, contribute to their understanding of the world, and present opportunities for life skill development. The better children understand and appreciate science, the better-informed decisions they can make throughout their lives.
Public and Community Engagement to Support Vaccine Research
1 May 2024
The Public and Community Engagement group at OUCRU has a strong commitment to community engagement, particularly in the field of vaccine research. Let’s look at some featured projects in all OUCRU’s local offices, spreading out from typhoid in Nepal to TB in Vietnam.
Visit our exhibition: Malariaworld
17 April 2024
The Malariaworld exhibition has been developed for World Malaria Day 2024 to raise awareness of malaria and malaria research. We highlight some of the Nuffield Department of Medicine’s contributions to malaria research. Come and visit our exhibition at the John Radcliffe Academic Centre, 22-29 April 2024.
OUCRU celebrates World Health Worker Week 2024
3 April 2024
In the 1st week of April each year, the global community comes together to celebrate health workers, the backbone of the health industry and society. This year, the theme is #SafeSupportedHealthWorkers. The Frontline Health Workers Coalition and its partners are leading the effort. The goal is to unite advocates, health workers, leaders, and communities worldwide to call for investment, protection, and support for the health workforce. This is especially important in low—and middle-income countries.
School Leavers Attachment Scheme
22 February 2024
KWTRP hosted 153 students for the Annual School Leavers Attachment Scheme (SLAS) Open Day. The SLAS open day targets top performing students in Kilifi to give them an opportunity to information from various stakeholders and scientists that would help them firm up or redefine their career aspirations. It is an opportunity to give the students information about the need to take science and health related careers with the focus on creating the next pool of researchers in Kenya, Africa and beyond.
12 Remarkable African Life Scientists– An inspirational book for young people
18 February 2024
Dr Tabitha Mwangi, a former KWTRP scientist now working in the UK, has written an inspirational book targeted at High school going children but also useful in shaping students already in university in shaping their career journeys.
Combatting Antimicrobial Resistance: OUCRU's Fight Against the Silent Pandemic
23 November 2023
OUCRU are tackling the global health threat of Antimicrobial Resistance – a silent pandemic claiming millions of lives yearly. Learn about our collaborative research, our interventions in local hospitals, and our ongoing efforts to combat AMR.
Public Engagement Activities in Nepal to celebrate World AMR Awareness Week
22 November 2023
As part of the global efforts to raise awareness about Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) during World AMR Awareness Week, OUCRU Nepal has been actively engaging in public outreach activities since 2016. These initiatives aim to educate and empower individuals to take action in preventing the spread of AMR and promote responsible antibiotic use in the country.
World AMR Awareness and Public Engagement at OUCRU
21 November 2023
At OUCRU, we are committed to raising awareness about antimicrobial resistance in the communities we work with. To fulfil our commitment, OUCRU’s Public and Community Engagement team has organised several activities and projects across our sites. The aim has been to educate and empower individuals to take action in preventing the spread of AMR by promoting responsible antibiotic use.
Community Engagement on Human Resources for Health Needs at IF Oxford Festival
1 November 2023
In a world driven by innovation and technology, healthcare remains a cornerstone of society. Understanding the healthcare system's challenges is crucial for professionals and the public. As part of our ongoing commitment to fostering knowledge and awareness the Health Systems Collaborative (HSC) team participated in community engagement as a part of the IF Oxford Science and Ideas Festival. This event allowed participants to explore the human resources for health challenges while highlighting our work to address these issues in the UK and worldwide.
Recap on the webinar Mental Healthcare for Carers and Celebrating World Mental Health Day
10 October 2023
On October 7th, we had the privilege of hosting a live webinar together with the Vietnamese Psychotherapy Association (VnPA) and Medisetter, titled “Mental Healthcare for Carers: We Support the Supporters!” in honour of World Mental Health Day 10th October 2023.
KWTRP School Leavers Attachment Scheme
10 July 2023
This year’s School Leavers Attachment Scheme (SLAS) cohort have successfully concluded. The cohort included 9 students drawn from secondary schools in Kilifi who scored highest in aptitude tests and interviews. The 3-month attachment, which started from 1st March to 31st May, involved two-week long rotations in the HSRE, Neuro, ICT, Labs, Wards and ED departments and bi-weekly tutorials.
Public Engagement in Vaccine Uptake projects at OUCRU
5 May 2023
Vaccines are the most effective and affordable way to prevent diseases. The pandemic led to a lag in immunisation for essential vaccines – 25 million children worldwide missed out on vaccination in 2021, according to WHO. At OUCRU, in addition to research and collaborations on various vaccine projects, we are committed to public and community engagement and education around vaccines. Look at some engagement projects that help raise awareness about vaccination and build the capacity for frontline healthcare workers, especially in rural areas.
Public Engagement projects at MSc IHTM
3 May 2023
Students at the MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine, University of Oxford, talk about their public engagement projects.
The journey of dreams, improving engagement with underserved populations at risk for Hepatitis C in Vietnam.
22 March 2023
OUCRU Public and Community Engagement team produced a video based on their project “Community-based participatory research to promote engagement with underserved communities at risk of Hepatitis C virus in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam”. This video was made by community members of the community-based participatory research to the project. The video is in Vietnamese with English subtitles
Shobhana Nagraj, Women in Science
17 February 2023
Clinical Researcher Shobhana Nagraj, from the Health Systems Collaboratives in Oxford, tells us about the female role models who inspired her to follow her dreams
OUCRU Engagement around mental health
25 October 2022
OUCRU’s Public and Community Engagement team develops training and resources on the topic of stress management and communication skills. Run by the Public and Community Engagement team, the Youth Ambassadors programme also links young people to medical research that impacts their lives and connects researchers to the health issues that young people care about.
OUCRU presents a new virtual exhibition: Digital Diaries, Voices from the Pandemic, COVID-19 experiences in Asia
13 September 2022
This online exhibition showcases short films and photographs created by health-care workers and community members and documents the socio-cultural impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, Nepal and Vietnam.
OUCRU SPEAR Digital Diaries
21 June 2022
Healthcare workers and community members in Indonesia, Nepal and Vietnam have been documenting their personal experiences of Covid-19. They have each made their own ‘digital diary’, using a range of creative tools and with technical support from the project team. These diaries form part of the SPEAR project: exploring the experiences and impacts of COVID-19 for healthcare workers and vulnerable communities.
Taking relationships seriously
17 June 2022
Community Engagement (CE) is a critical aspect of health research because of its potential to make research more ethical, relevant, and well implemented. Many research programmes now aim to incorporate CE activities at all stages of their work. This KWTRP brief summarises key findings from a malaria trials, and provides an illustration of how CE works more generally. It highlights facilitators and challenges to engagement, and the ethical issues that are particularly relevant in LMIC settings with under resourced health systems.
Laos’ first Pint of Science: warty newts, COVID, AI for Instagram, and more!
11 May 2022
Organised by a grass-root community of thousands of scientists across the world, Pint of Science 2022 allows researchers in 25 countries and over 800 cities to share their latest findings with lay folk in interesting, informal settings. Lao PDR joined the global Pint of Science family on Monday 9 May, when the first-ever Pint of Science Laos kicked off!
Picturing Health: The Burden of Leprosy in Eastern Indonesia
26 April 2022
The Eijkman Oxford Clinical Research Unit in Indonesia and Sumba Foundation collaborated with photographer Yoppy Pieter to express the human face of leprosy in Sumba, a remote island in eastern Indonesia. The project aimed to visualize the story of leprosy and raise awareness of this debilitating and heavily stigmatised disease
Community and Public Engagement at KWTRP
29 March 2022
Monitoring and Evaluation helps us keep track of our public engagement activities and outcomes. KEMRI -Wellcome Trust recently completed a report detailing our experiences and learning.
Policy and Public Engagement at OUCRU
29 March 2022
Why does OUCRU place an important focus on engaging with its important partners, policy makers, the press, the community, and young people? Explore our work in policy & public engagement.
Under the Mask, drama film based on testimonies of tuberculosis patients
24 March 2022
In 2022, tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health problem, particularly in developing countries. On the Thai-Myanmar border, TB is an important problem among migrants, a vulnerable, very mobile population, with unstable, often difficult living conditions, insecure incomes, and poor access to health services.
Covid-19 at OUCRU - Research and engagement portfolio
11 March 2022
In the last two years, OUCRU has worked with our partners and collaborators to conduct various research and engagement projects in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This portfolio provides an overview of all the on-going projects that our entire programme have been working on to contribute to the understanding and management of COVID-19 and its national, regional and global impact.
New! A learning framework about antimicrobial resistance for children and young people
19 November 2021
A downloadable resource for educators, health & research professionals to help develop young peoples’ understanding of AMR and positive actions they can take to mitigate it.
The global burden of Plasmodium vivax malaria is obscure and insidious
16 November 2021
Until recently, Plasmodium falciparum dominated the malaria research landscape, and Plasmodium vivax infection was considered benign and inconsequential. We now know that this is not true: if not properly diagnosed and treated, P. vivax can lead to life-threatening syndromes and death. Professor Kevin Baird from EOCRU in Jakarta, Indonesia talks to OutBreak News Today
Pint of Science Thailand is back, now online
7 May 2021
Live and on-line from Bangkok! Be ready for Thursday 13th May, when Pint of Science Thailand will stream live from Bangkok. Join us via Facebook, YouTube or right here from the Pint of Science Thailand website as we journey from bacterial infections to viruses, discover how clinical trials work, and how scientific development is seen in the eyes of the law!
Celebrating women in ICT: connected girls, creating brighter futures
27 April 2021
The International Girl’s in ICT day is commemorated to create awareness on the critical need for more girls and women in the ICT sector, encourage and inspire young girls to actively pursue careers in STEM as well as engage the community to promote collaboration through partnerships. Kathreen Wafula, an ICT Support Technician in Kilifi, joins a strong team of techies and is one of the 4 women in the department.
Communicating with communities for World Immunisation Week 2021
26 April 2021
World Immunization Week highlights the role vaccinations play in improving the health of communities. As the COVID pandemic continues to impact countries worldwide, governments are facing challenges related to coverage, equity and sustainability of routine immunisation alongside access and the particular maintenance requirements related to the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Communication with communities has been key to ensure continued engagement with the vaccine programs despite the challenges of current contexts.
Innovative strategies for engaging communities with malaria research
25 April 2021
For World Malaria Day 2021, F1000 Research Blog spoke to Professor Phaik Yeong Cheah about her research focussed on drama and arts-based community engagement for malaria research, published with Wellcome Open Research.
Community and Public Engagement at KWTRP
28 January 2021
KWTRP initial community and public engagement strategy was developed in 2005 with three goals: build understanding and trust between researchers and communities, enhance ethical conduct of research, and disseminate research findings to promote uptake into policy. Our programme has since developed and now includes engagement with media, radio programme, media engagement workshops, various meetings and forums, and a fully-fledged school engagement programme that was awarded the 2019 Oxford VC Public Engagement with Research Award.
Youth against antimicrobial resistance
23 November 2020
The YAAR! project, bringing together young people from four countries in the Global South to help combat the challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), or drug resistant infections.
Life at the Thai-Myanmar border through the eyes of a frontline researcher
30 October 2020
Ethox programme REACH (Resilience, Empowerment and Advocacy in Women's and Children's Health Research) posted a visual research gallery as a Public Engagement project. Six galleries of photos by SMRU's Suphak Nosten depict aspects of migrant workers' daily lives: the Thai-Myanmar border; work; cultural and spiritual values; the often-difficult journeys seeking healthcare; striving for better; and dedicated frontline health workers. Richly coloured, sometimes personal, Suphak’s photography is deeply empathetic and memorable.
Parenting for lifelong health for young children, project led by MORU Bioethics & Engagement Amalee McCoy
14 October 2020
The University of Oxford, MORU, the University of Cape Town, the Thai Ministry of Public Health, and UNICEF Thailand worked together to promote lifelong health and well-being, and prevent violence against children. Led by Amalee McCoy from MORU Department of Bioethics & Engagement, this project involved the cultural adaptation and testing of an evidence-based parenting intervention for low-income families with children aged 2-9 living in Udon Thani, Thailand.
Community drama about vaccination in Binh Phuoc, Vietnam
16 March 2020
This community drama programme was designed by the OUCRU Public and Community Engagement group to raise awareness about the importance of vaccinations in remote areas of Binh Phuoc province. The majority of the population are ethnic minority groups with limited access to health promotion. Without even radio as a method of dissemination, home visits by local healthcare workers is the main way to encourage the community to get vaccinated. Scripted very closely to the context of everyday lives, this play helps understand more about vaccinations and explains how to access the National Expanded Programme on Immunization.
Art exhibition on substandard and falsified medicines comes to Bangkok
10 January 2020
When we are ill, we expect our medicines to work as intended. But what if they do not contain the ingredients listed on the packaging? The Pharmacide Arts exhibition “What’s in your medicines?” showcases the original artwork of 11 South East Asian artists. The exhibition is open to the public from 26th-28th January 2020 at the Mandarin Hotel, Bangkok, from 10 am – 5 pm.