Dataset Information

Building financial management capacity for community ownership of development initiatives in rural Zambia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Building financial management capacity is increasingly important in low- and middle-income countries to help communities take ownership of development activities. Yet, many community members lack financial knowledge and skills.

Methods

We designed and conducted financial management trainings for 83 members from 10 community groups in rural Zambia. We conducted pre-training and post-training tests and elicited participant feedback. We conducted 28 in-depth interviews over 18 months and reviewed financial records to assess practical application of skills.

Results

The training significantly improved knowledge of financial concepts, especially among participants with secondary education. Participants appreciated exercises to contextualize financial concepts within daily life and liked opportunities to learn from peers in small groups. Language barriers were a particular challenge. After trainings, sites successfully adhered to the principles of financial management, discussing the benefits they experienced from practicing accountability, transparency, and accurate recordkeeping.

Conclusion

Financial management trainings need to be tailored to the background and education level of participants. Trainings should relate financial concepts to more tangible applications and provide time for active learning. On-site mentorship should be considered for a considerable time. This training approach could be used in similar settings to improve community oversight of resources intended to strengthen developmental initiatives.

SUBMITTER: Sakanga VIR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7043374 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Building financial management capacity for community ownership of development initiatives in rural Zambia.

Sakanga Viviane I R VIR Chastain Parker S PS McGlasson Kathleen L KL Kaiser Jeanette L JL Bwalya Misheck M Mwansa Melvin M Mataka Kaluba K Kalaba David D Scott Nancy A NA Vian Taryn T

The International journal of health planning and management 20190523 1

<h4>Background</h4>Building financial management capacity is increasingly important in low- and middle-income countries to help communities take ownership of development activities. Yet, many community members lack financial knowledge and skills.<h4>Methods</h4>We designed and conducted financial management trainings for 83 members from 10 community groups in rural Zambia. We conducted pre-training and post-training tests and elicited participant feedback. We conducted 28 in-depth interviews ove ...[more]

PMID: 31120153

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Project description:BackgroundAcademic institutions building capacity for implementation scholarship are also well positioned to build capacity in real world health and human service settings. How practitioners and policy makers are included and trained in implementation capacity-building initiatives, and their impact on building implementation practice capacity is unclear. This scoping review identified and examined features of interventions that build implementation practice capacity across researchers and practitioners or practitioners-in-training.MethodsFive bibliographic databases were searched. Eligible studies (a) described an implementation capacity building intervention with a connection to an academic institution, (b) targeted researchers and practitioners (including practitioners-in-training, students, or educators), and (c) reported intervention or participant outcomes. Articles that only described capacity building interventions without reporting outcomes were excluded. Consistent with Arksey and O'Malley's framework, key study characteristics were extracted (target participants, core components, and outcomes) and analyzed using open coding and numerical analysis.ResultsOf 1349 studies identified, 64 met eligibility for full-text review, and 14 were included in the final analysis. Half of the studies described implementation capacity building interventions that targeted health or behavioral health researchers, practitioners, and practitioners-in-training together, and half targeted practitioners or practitioners-in-training only. The most common components included structured didactic activities offered in person or online, mentorship and expert consultation to support implementation, and practical application activities (e.g., field placements, case studies). Knowledge sharing activities and technical assistance were less common. All studies reported favorable outcomes related to knowledge attainment, increased ability to implement evidence, productivity, and satisfaction.ConclusionsBuilding implementation capacity among practitioners is critical for integrating insights from implementation science into the field and preventing the "secondary" implementation research-to-practice gap. This scoping review identified several promising implementation practice capacity building interventions that tend to build practitioner capacity via expert led activities which may be relevant for academic institutions seeking to build implementation practice capacity. To avoid widening the implementation research-to-practice gap, implementation capacity building interventions are needed that target policy makers, expand beyond multiple practice settings, and leverage university/community partnerships or on-site academic medical centers. Future studies will also be needed to test the impact on service quality and public health outcomes.

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Dataset Information

Building financial management capacity for community ownership of development initiatives in rural Zambia.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Building financial management capacity for community ownership of development initiatives in rural Zambia.

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