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Training through malaria research: building capacity in good clinical and laboratory practice in Liberia.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Limited health research capacities (HRC) undermine a country's ability to identify and adequately respond to local health needs. Although numerous interventions to strengthen HRC have been conducted in Africa, there is a need to share the lessons learnt by funding organizations, institutes and researchers. The aim of this report is to identify best practices in HRC strengthening by describing a training programme conducted between 2016 and 2017 at the Saint Joseph's Catholic Hospital (SJCH) in Monrovia (Liberia). METHODS:A call for trainees was launched at the SJCH, the Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA), the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Mother Pattern College of Health Sciences (MPCHS) and community members. Selected trainees participated in four workshops on Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP), standard operating procedures (SOP) and scientific communication, as well as in a 5-months eLearning mentoring programme. After the training, a collectively-designed research project on malaria was conducted. RESULTS:Twenty-one of the 28 trainees (14 from the SJCH, 3 from LMHRA, one from MPCHS, and 10 community representatives) completed the programme satisfactorily. Pre- and post-training questionnaires completed by 9 of the trainees showed a 14% increase in the percentage of correct answers. Trainees participated in a mixed-methods cross-sectional study of Plasmodium falciparum infection among pregnant women at the SJCH. Selected trainees disseminated activities and research outcomes in three international meetings and three scientific publications. CONCLUSION:This training-through-research programme successfully involved SJCH staff and community members in a practical research exercise on malaria during pregnancy. The challenge is to ensure that the SJCH remains active in research. Harmonization of effectiveness indicators for HRC initiatives would strengthen the case for investing in such efforts.

SUBMITTER: Mayor A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6471755 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Training through malaria research: building capacity in good clinical and laboratory practice in Liberia.

Mayor Alfredo A Martínez-Pérez Guillermo G Tarr-Attia Christine K CK Breeze-Barry Bondey B Sarukhan Adelaida A García-Sípido Ana Meyer AM Hurtado Juan Carlos JC Lansana Dawoh Peter DP Casamitjana Núria N

Malaria journal 20190417 1

<h4>Background</h4>Limited health research capacities (HRC) undermine a country's ability to identify and adequately respond to local health needs. Although numerous interventions to strengthen HRC have been conducted in Africa, there is a need to share the lessons learnt by funding organizations, institutes and researchers. The aim of this report is to identify best practices in HRC strengthening by describing a training programme conducted between 2016 and 2017 at the Saint Joseph's Catholic H ...[more]

PMID: 30999908

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Implementation research is increasingly being recognised as an important discipline seeking to maximise the benefits of evidence-based interventions. Although capacity-building efforts are ongoing, there has been limited attention on the contextual and health system peculiarities in low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, given the challenges encountered during the implementation of health interventions, the field of implementation research requires a creative attempt to build expertise for health researchers and practitioners simultaneously. With support from the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, we have developed an implementation research short course that targets both researchers and practitioners. This paper seeks to explain the course development processes and report on training evaluations, highlighting its relevance for inter-institutional and inter-regional capacity strengthening. METHODS:The development of the implementation research course curriculum was categorised into four phases, namely the formation of a core curriculum development team, course content development, internal reviews and pilot, and external reviews and evaluations. Five modules were developed covering Introduction to implementation research, Methods in implementation research, Ethics and quality management in implementation research, Community and stakeholder engagement, and Dissemination in implementation research. Course evaluations were conducted using developed tools measuring participants' reactions and learning. RESULTS:From 2016 to 2018, the IR curriculum has been used to train a total of 165 researchers and practitioners predominantly from African countries, the majority of whom are males (57%) and researchers/academics (79.4%). Participants generally gave positive ratings (e.g. integration of concepts) for their reactions to the training. Under 'learnings', participants indicated improvement in their knowledge in areas such as identification of implementation research problems and questions. CONCLUSION:The approach for training both researchers and practitioners offers a dynamic opportunity for the acquisition and sharing of knowledge for both categories of learners. This approach was crucial in demonstrating a key characteristic of implementation research (e.g. multidisciplinary) practically evident during the training sessions. Using such a model to effectively train participants from various low- and middle-income countries shows the opportunities this training curriculum offers as a capacity-building tool.

Project description:BackgroundChinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) introduced the Structured Operational Research Training Initiative (SORT IT) into China to build a special capacity and equip public health professionals with an effective tool to support developing countries in strengthening their operational research. The paper aims to investigate and analyze the implementation, outcomes and challenges of the first cycle of SORT IT in China.Main textAs a result of the successful implementation, SORT IT China, Cycle 1 has demonstrated fruitful outputs as exemplified by the 18-month follow-up to the post-training initiatives of the twelve participants, who all achieved the four milestones required by SORT IT. Eleven of twelve (92%) manuscripts generated that focused on the prevention and control of malaria, influenza, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, schistosomiasis, tuberculosis and Japanese encephalitis were published by peer-reviewed international journals with the impact factor ranging from 2.6 to 4.8. The most up-to-date citation count on February 19, 2021 was 53 times out of which 31 times were cited by Science Citation Index papers with 94.827 impact factor in total. Six senior professionals from China CDC also facilitated the whole SORT IT training scheme as co-mentors under the guidance of SORT IT mentors. The twelve participants who gained familiarity with the SORT IT courses and training principles are likely become potential mentors for future SORT IT, but they as the non-first language speakers/users of English also faced the challenge in thoroughly understanding the modules delivered in English and writing English academically to draft the manuscripts.ConclusionThe outcomes from the first cycle of SORT IT in China have led to studies contributing to narrowing the knowledge gap among numerous public health challenges nationally and internationally. It is believed the researchers who participated will continue to apply the skills learned within their domain and help build the training capacity for future operational research courses both in China and in developing countries with similar needs.

Project description:BACKGROUND: Management training is fundamental to developing human resources for health. Particularly as Liberia revives its health delivery system, facility and county health team managers are central to progress. Nevertheless, such management skills are rarely prioritized in health training, and sustained capacity building in this area is limited. We describe a health management delivery program in which a north and south institution collaborated to integrate classroom and field-based training in health management and to transfer the capacity for sustained management development in Liberia. METHODS: We developed and implemented a 6-month training program in health management skills (i.e. strategic problem solving, financial management, human resource management and leadership) delivered by Yale University and Mother Patern College from Liberia, with support from the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative. Over three 6-month cycles, responsibility for course instruction was transferred from the north institution to the south institution. A self-administered survey was conducted of all participants completing the course to measure changes in self-rated management skills, the degree to which the course was helpful and met its stated objectives, and faculty members' responsiveness to participant needs as the transfer process occurred. RESULTS: Respondents (n=93, response rate 95.9%) reported substantial improvement in self-reported management skills, and rated the helpfulness of the course and the degree to which the course met its objectives highly. Levels of improvement and course ratings were similar over the three cohorts as the course was transferred to the south institution. We suggest a framework of five elements for implementing successful management training programs that can be transferred and sustained in resource-limited settings, including: 1) use a short-course format focusing on four key skill areas with practical tools; 2) include didactic training, on-site projects, and on-site mentoring; 3) collaborate with an in-country academic institution, willing and able to scale-up and maintain the training; 4) provide training for the in-country academic faculty; and 5) secure Ministry-level support to ensure participation. CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate key elements for scaling up and replicating educational initiatives that address management skills essential for long-term health systems strengthening in resource-poor settings.

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Project description:Background: Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP) is a standard that helps ensure the quality and reliability of research data through principles of Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and Good Clinical Practice (GCP). The implementation of GCLP includes careful documentation of procedures, competencies and safety measures. Implementation of GCLP is influenced by existing resources and quality systems, thus laboratories in low- and middle-income countries may face additional challenges. Methods: This paper describes implementation of GCLP at the Kenya Medical Research Institute-Center for Microbiology Research (KEMRI-CMR) as part of a quality system to support medical research. This study employed assessment, twinning (institutional mentorship) model, conducting relevant training workshops and Kaizen 5S approaches to implement an effective quality management system using GCLP standard. This was achieved through a collaboration between the KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) and KEMRI-CMR. The aim was compliance and continuous monitoring to meet international GCLP standards in a way that could be replicated in other research organizations. Results: Following a baseline assessment in March 2017, training, mentorship and a cycle of quality audit and corrective action using a Kaizen 5S approach (sorting, setting in order, shining, standardizing and sustaining) was established. Laboratory personnel were trained in writing standard operating procedures and analytical plans, microbiological techniques, and good documentation practice. Mid-term and exit assessments demonstrated significant declines in non-conformances across all GCLP elements. KEMRI-CMR achieved GCLP accreditation in May 2018 by Qualogy Ltd (UK). Conclusions: Involving all the laboratory personnel in implementation of quality management system processes is critical to success. An institutional mentorship (twinning) approach shows potential for future collaborations between accredited and non-accredited organizations to accelerate the implementation of high-quality management systems and continuous improvement.

Dataset Information

Training through malaria research: building capacity in good clinical and laboratory practice in Liberia.

Publications

Training through malaria research: building capacity in good clinical and laboratory practice in Liberia.

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