Engaging and involving mobile, stateless and displaced communities

Gary Hickey, NIHR Senior Research Manager for Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement hosts this episode and is joined by Dr Jayakayatri Jeevajothi Nathan, Research Manager at Universiti Malaya, Farzana Khan, Chief Executive Director of Fasiuddin Khan Research Foundation, and Jo Vearey, Associate Professor at the African Centre for Migration and Society, University of the Witwatersrand. 

Together, they discuss what is meant by leaving no one behind, the impact and challenges of engaging mobile, stateless and displaced communities in their research, and community engagement and involvement (CEI) tips.  

Get to know our speakers 

Dr Jayakayatri Jeevajothi Nathan (Kay Nathan) and Farzana Khan are affiliated with NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Respiratory Health (RESPIRE-2). 

Kay Nathan collaborated with the RESPIRE team in Sabah, Malaysia, to develop a clinical algorithm for diagnosing smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis in resource-limited settings. Her efforts focus on engaging stateless communities who face compounded challenges — legal barriers, societal stigma, and high illiteracy rates — that limit their access to healthcare. Through community outreach, Kay raises awareness, dispels misconceptions about tuberculosis, and reducing stigma, adapting health information into pictorial formats and videos in local dialects to bridge literacy gaps. Inspired by the principle of “leave no one behind,” her commitment is to create trust and ensure these marginalised communities have access to essential healthcare, overcoming barriers step by step.

Dr. Farzana Khan, a Bangladeshi physician, scientist, and CEO of the Fasiuddin Khan Research Foundation (FKRF), holds a PhD in Global Health from the University of Edinburgh. With a professional background encompassing palliative care and public health, her research endeavors center on investigating the delivery and impact of quality palliative care in marginalized environments such as urban slums and humanitarian settings in low and middle income countries.

Dr. Khan's contributions extend to her collaboration with the UN-IOM in Cox's Bazar, where she has been pivotal in establishing palliative care services in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Jo Vearey is affiliated with Global Health Research Group on Disrupting the cycle of GEndered violence & Poor Mental health among Migrants in precarious Situations (GEMMS). 

Jo’s internationally recognised and globally-impactful research in the field of migration and health is informed by her commitment to social and epistemic justice. Fundamental to her research practice is investigating the ethical, empirical and methodological factors —  and their entanglements — that are associated with engaged research approaches. At international and local levels, Jo exlpores approaches that encourage genuine engagement with epistemic injustice in agenda-setting processes and in the development of evidence-informed migration and health governance framework, policies and programmes.

Gary Hickey is a Senior Research Manager at the NIHR and Chair of the International Patient and Public Involvement Network. He is passionate about promoting and sharing knowledge from across the globe on how to involve the public and communities in research. Gary works with researchers and the public, providing advice, guidance and training on patient and public involvement in health and social care research. He also writes, presents and is involved in several podcasts on these issues.

This episode was recorded in late 2024. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.