As 2025 draws closer, Public and Community Engagement (PCE) continued to strengthen meaningful connections between OUCRU research and the local communities across Indonesia, Vietnam, and Nepal. Across all sites, our work is guided by a shared goal: health research creates lasting impact when communities are actively involved in shaping it.
Let’s take a look at the milestones we have achieved from the year.
Creating Spaces for Stronger Engagement Ecosystems
Community Advisory Board: Shaping Public Voices in Health Research
Community voices played a vital role in shaping relevant health research. Since its establishment at OUCRU, advisory boards have continued to guide research priorities, enabling participants to share their lived experiences in their own voices and contribute suggestions and feedback to OUCRU’s research.
In 2025, the Health Research Advisory Board (HRAB) held three meetings with the communities, while the Tuberculosis Meningitis Community Advisory Board (CAB) combined dialogue with community-led video production, enabling members to share research experiences in their own voices.
Advisory board practice has proven successful in several projects at OUCRU. In Indonesia, Community Forum for Health Research (ForuM) was first established to serve as a vital platform bringing diverse communities in Indonesia to contribute OUCRU’s health research processes. The forum strengthened dialogue around community priorities and reinforced the importance research agendas that respond to local health needs. Through these exchanges, community feedback is translated into research that is more relevant, impactful, inclusive, and culturally sensitive, ensuring that OUCRU’s work addresses real community needs.
The Public and Community Engagement Pilot Training: Designing Your Engagement Projects
2025 marked the first PCE Pilot Training, OUCU teams Vietnam and Indonesia worked together to equip researchers and practitioners with practical skills in designing the engagement projects. The training supported participants from Southeast Asia region to integrate community perspectives into research planning, implementation, and dissemination.
From Research into Community Action
Malaria Burden in Southeast Asia: Research Findings and Community Impact
In April 2025, World Malaria Day was marked, and OUCRU, MORU, and The Global Health Network hosted a regional webinar exploring the often-overlooked burden of malaria in Southeast Asia. Our researchers shared insights on drug development, surveillance of drug-resistant malaria, treatment trials, and the importance of including pregnant women in research. Central to the discussion was the role of community engagement, showcasing how researchers work with hard-to-reach communities, elevate community voices, and use creative approaches to build trust, raise awareness, and strengthen the real impact of malaria research inside the community.
Bridging Hard-to-Reach Communities Through Media Engagement
In Vietnam, research led by Dr Nguyen Thanh Ha in Dak Lak province revealed that vaccine hesitancy is often driven by structural barriers rather. In response to that, OUCRU worked with local health authorities to strengthen healthcare workers’ communication skills.
OUCRU’s published a film for community, by community “Shield for Children” to bridging gaps to hard-to-reach communities trough media and engagement demonstrating the power media and engagement storytelling. Co-created with local communities, the film translated complex research messages into accessible narratives, amplifying lived experiences and building trust with hard-to-reach audiences. These initiatives demonstrate that effective engagement goes beyond information sharing. When research is communicated with cultural understanding, creativity, and partnership, it can strengthen trust, support ethical research, and improve public acceptance of health science.
Watch the film:
Putting Community at the Centre of Health Systems
In Vietnam, Public and Community Engagement continued to strengthen health systems by promoting patient-centred care, which prioritises individual needs, values, and informed decision-making, and recognises patients as active partners in their care.
Since its establishment in 2016, patient-centred care has been part of hospital evaluation criteria, OUCRU partnered with Medisetter Vietnam to build the training on interpersonal skills for healthcare workers. Through targeted training and dialogue, frontline staff strengthened communication skills, digital health literacy, and confidence in engaging with patients—key foundations for trust and satisfaction in healthcare settings.
Investing Research Engagement for the Next Generation
The PCE Seed Awards continue to be a cornerstone of innovation at OUCRU, supporting young and early-career researchers to design and deliver community-centred engagement projects. Now in its tenth year, the programme provides funding and mentorship that encourage creative approaches to connecting research with real-world health concerns.
In 2025, Seed Awards funded four projects with continued support on youth engagement. This supported intiatives including the youth antimicrobial stewardship in partnership, HFMD, and A Day in the Lab which targeted to young children and youth. These projects demonstrates how seed awards can catalyse meaningful engagement, inspire new ideas, and strengthen connections between researchers, communities, and young audiences.
Explore Seed Awards Projects: https://www.oucru.org/project/seed-awards/
Digital Engagement initiative also brings science closer to next generation for Indonesian children and young people by creating a live, interactive space to meet researchers, ask questions, and explore the human side of health research. One of projects in day in lab extended its reach through digital platforms. Kids Meet Scientist Talkshow, has successfully brought school children, parents, teachers and researchers together to have dialogue inside the research science world. Kids Meet Scientist helps bridge the gap between science and society, inspiring young audiences from diverse backgrounds to see themselves as part of the future of research.
Watch the interactive discussion:
Looking Ahead to 2026
As we move into 2026, OUCRU remains committed to strengthening trust in OUCRU’s research and encouraging active participation in public and community engagement. By promoting accessible, evidence-based health information, we support informed decision-making and meaningful dialogue between communities and research professionals.
