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Strengthening research capacity through regional partners: the HRP Alliance at the World Health Organization.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Improvements in health cannot occur without cutting-edge research informing the design and implementation of health programmes and policies, highlighting the need for qualified and capable researchers and institutions in countries where disease burden is high and resources are limited. MAIN BODY:Research capacity strengthening efforts in low- and middle-income countries have included provision of training scholarships for postgraduate degrees, often in high-income countries, internships at research universities/centres, short courses, as well as involvement with research groups for hands-on experience, among others. The HRP Alliance provides opportunities for developing local research capacity in sexual and reproductive health and rights through institutions based in low- and middle-income countries linked with ongoing and past collaborative studies. It is a network of HRP research partner institutions, World Health Organization (WHO) country and regional offices, WHO special programmes and partnerships, and WHO collaborating centres. CONCLUSION:It is through the HRP Alliance that HRP seeks to improve population health by strengthening local research capacity in sexual and reproductive health across the globe, with focus in low- and middle-income countries, in alignment with WHO's quest of promoting healthier populations.

SUBMITTER: Adanu R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7448306 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Strengthening research capacity through regional partners: the HRP Alliance at the World Health Organization.

Adanu Richard R Bahamondes Luis L Brizuela Vanessa V Gitau Evelyn E Kouanda Seni S Lumbiganon Pisake P Nguyen Thi Thuy Hanh TTH Saleem Sarah S Thorson Anna A Torpey Kwasi K

Reproductive health 20200826 1

<h4>Background</h4>Improvements in health cannot occur without cutting-edge research informing the design and implementation of health programmes and policies, highlighting the need for qualified and capable researchers and institutions in countries where disease burden is high and resources are limited.<h4>Main body</h4>Research capacity strengthening efforts in low- and middle-income countries have included provision of training scholarships for postgraduate degrees, often in high-income count ...[more]

PMID: 32847605

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Strengthening research capacity in low-and-middle-income countries is essential to drive socioeconomic development and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Understanding strengths and weaknesses in institutions' research capacity can guide effective targeting of investments and resources. This study assessed the capacity of institutions undertaking research in natural science topics in Africa to identify priority capacity gaps for future investment. METHODS:Assessments were conducted in eight African institutions that were partners in a UK-Africa programme to strengthen research capacity in renewable energy, soil-related science, and water and sanitation. Assessments involved eighty-six interviews and three focus group discussions to identify institutions' research capacity strengths and gaps against an evidence-informed benchmark. Use of the same interview guides and data collection processes across all institutions meant that findings could be compared. RESULTS:Common research capacity gaps were: lack of, or poorly maintained, equipment; unreliable, slow procurement systems; insufficient opportunities for developing the skills of research support staff such as administrators and technicians; dysfunctional institutional email communication systems; insufficient focus on the development of 'soft' researcher skills such as ethics, academic writing and, in non-Anglophone countries, English language. Programme strengths were the South-South and South-North partnerships for sharing and cascading expertise and resources, joint writing of proposals and publications, and improved individual and institutional visibility. CONCLUSION:There were many similarities in research capacity gaps irrespective of the institutions' natural sciences research focus, and these were similar to those reported in the health sector. Common capacity needs are improving the skills of technicians and administrators to support research activities, soft skills training for researchers, and more effective pan-institutional e-communication systems. These could be strategic investment targets for the joint efforts of national governments and international organisations that fund programmes for strengthening research capacity in low- and middle-income countries.

Project description:BackgroundLimited research capacity has contributed to the lack of high-quality research from low-and middle-income countries. This is compounded by limited research training opportunities. Research capacity scale-up training was deployed as part of the implementation of the National Surgical, Obstetrics, Anaesthesia, and Nursing Plan for Nigeria. We report the impact of this locally contextualized efforts to scale up research capacity in sub-Saharan Africa.MethodsThis is an evaluation of the training of 65 participants in research, grant writing and manuscript writing and publication. Pre- and post-training surveys using a 5-point Likert scale and open-ended questions were administered to evaluate the impact of the programme.ResultsThere were 39 (60%) males and 26 (40%) females aged 26-62 years (median 42 years). Thirty-nine (60%) participants had previous training in research, but only 12 (18.5%) had previously received grant writing training, and 17 (26.2%) had previously received manuscript writing and publishing training. Following training, 45 (70.3%) participants agreed that the training was relevant. The research, grant writing and manuscript writing, and publication components of the training were rated high by the participants (45-59, 70.3-92.2%). However, 41.2% felt that there was not enough time, and 32.4% felt that the training was too comprehensive. Nearly all the participants agreed that the training had improved their skills in research, grant writing and manuscript writing and publication, and more than two-thirds subsequently engaged in informal mentoring of others. Overall, participants achieved success in designing their own research projects and publishing manuscripts and grants. Three (4.6%) of the participants had gone on to become faculty for the research training programme. The three top barriers encountered following training were time constraints (67.3%), lack of funding (36.5%) and not being able to find research collaborators (25%).ConclusionOutcome of this training programme is encouraging and highlights the feasibility and potential impact of deploying such programmes in low and middle income countries (LMICs). Despite the positive outcomes, barriers including time constraints, funding limitations, and difficulties in finding research collaborators remain to be addressed. Such training programmes need to be supported to strengthen the research capacity in this and similar settings.

Project description:The Sanitation and Hygiene Applied Research for Equity (SHARE) Research Programme consortium is a programme funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) that aims to contribute to achieving universal access to effective, sustainable, and equitable sanitation and hygiene worldwide. The capacity development component is an important pillar for this programme and different strategies were designed and implemented during the various phases of SHARE. This paper describes and reflects on the capacity-building strategies of this large multi-country research consortium, identifying lessons learnt and proposing recommendations for future global health research programmes. In the first phase, the strategy focused on increasing the capacity of individuals and institutions from low- and middle-income countries in conducting their own research. SHARE supported six PhD students and 25 MSc students, and organised a wide range of training events for different stakeholders. SHARE peer-reviewed all proposals that researchers submitted through several rounds of funding and offered external peer-review for all the reports produced under the partner's research platforms. In the second phase, the aim was to support capacity development of a smaller number of African research institutions to move towards their independent sustainability, with a stronger focus on early and mid-career scientists within these institutions. In each institution, a Research Fellow was supported and a specific capacity development plan was jointly developed.Strategies that yielded success were learning by doing (supporting institutions and postgraduate students on sanitation and hygiene research), providing fellowships to appoint mid-career scientists to support personal and institutional development, and supporting tailored capacity-building plans. The key lessons learnt were that research capacity-building programmes need to be driven by local initiatives tailored with support from partners. We recommend that future programmes seeking to strengthen research capacity should consider targeted strategies for individuals at early, middle and later career stages and should be sensitive to other institutional operations to support both the research and management capacities.

Project description:Background: The Strengthening Capacity in Environmental Physics, Hydrogeology and Statistics for conservation agriculture research (CEPHaS) consortium sought to to strengthen research capacity among a network of African and UK researchers, and their respective institutions, to fill knowledge gaps on the impacts of conservation agriculture practices on the water cycle in cultivated soils. We examined experiences of consortium membership and, drawing on this information, determined key recommendations for future programmes with similar objectives. Methods: A mixed methods study encompassing an online survey (N=40) and semi-structured interviews (N=19) completed between June 2021 and February 2022 with CEPHaS consortium members from Malawi, UK, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Survey and interview data were analysed separately, using univariate statistics and framework synthesis respectively Results: Survey and interview findings were generally aligned, with both revealing a wide range of reported capacity strengthening gains resulting from CEPHaS engagement at both an individual and institutional level. Participants consistently expressed their CEPHaS involvement in positive terms with praise for the applied 'learn by doing' approach underpinning many of the activities as well as the engaging and highly inclusive leadership. There was evidence that the various trainings and resources provided through CEPHaS were valued, frequently utilised, and often transferred beyond the immediate CEPHaS membership for wider benefit. Resource provision and staff training were seen as foundational for long-term institutional benefits. Some challenges and suggested areas for improvement were reported by participants as were potential opportunities to facilitate greater impact. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the basic 'template' of the CEPHaS consortium provided a strong basis for research capacity strengthening in Conservation Agriculture, especially at the level of individual researchers, and that this template could be further enhanced in any future iteration of the same or similar programme. Recommendations for replicating and enhancing CEPHaS programme strengths are presented.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Despite being disproportionately burdened by preventable diseases than more advanced countries, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) continue to trail behind other parts of the world in the number, quality and impact of scholarly activities by their health researchers. Our strategy at the Nigerian Implementation Science Alliance (NISA) is to utilise innovative platforms that catalyse collaboration, enhance communication between different stakeholders, and promote the uptake of evidence-based interventions in improving healthcare delivery. This article reports on findings from a structured group exercise conducted at the 2016 NISA Conference to identify (1) gaps in developing research capacity and (2) potential strategies to address these gaps. METHODS:A 1-hour structured group exercise was conducted with 15 groups of 2-9 individuals (n = 94) to brainstorm gaps for implementation, strategies to address gaps and to rank their top 3 in each category. Qualitative thematic analysis was used. First, duplicate responses were merged and analyses identified emerging themes. Each of the gaps and strategies identified were categorised as falling into the purview of policy-makers, researchers, implementing partners or multiple groups. RESULTS:Participating stakeholders identified 98 gaps and 91 strategies related to increasing research capacity in Nigeria. A total of 45 gaps and an equal number of strategies were ranked; 39 gaps and 43 strategies were then analysed, from which 8 recurring themes emerged for gaps (lack of sufficient funding, poor research focus in education, inadequate mentorship and training, inadequate research infrastructure, lack of collaboration between researchers, research-policy dissonance, lack of motivation for research, lack of leadership buy-in for research) and 7 themes emerged for strategies (increased funding for research, improved research education, improved mentorship and training, improved infrastructure for research, increased collaboration between academic/research institutions, greater engagement between researchers and policy-makers, greater leadership buy-in for research). CONCLUSIONS:The gaps and strategies identified in this study represent pathways judged to be important in increasing research and implementation science capacity in Nigeria. The inclusion of perspectives and involvement of stakeholders who play different roles in policy, research and implementation activities makes these findings comprehensive, relevant and actionable, not only in Nigeria but in other similar LMICs.

Project description:Strengthening research capacity in low- and middle-income countries is one of the most effective ways of advancing their health and development but the complexity and heterogeneity of health research capacity strengthening (RCS) initiatives means it is difficult to evaluate their effectiveness. Our study aimed to enhance understanding about these difficulties and to make recommendations about how to make health RCS evaluations more effective. Through discussions and surveys of health RCS funders, including the ESSENCE on Health Research initiative, we identified themes that were important to health RCS funders and used these to guide a systematic analysis of their evaluation reports. Eighteen reports, produced between 2000 and 2013, representing 12 evaluations, were purposefully selected from 54 reports provided by the funders to provide maximum variety. Text from the reports was extracted independently by two authors against a pre-designed framework. Information about the health RCS approaches, tensions and suggested solutions was re-constructed into a narrative. Throughout the process contacts in the health RCS funder agencies were involved in helping us to validate and interpret our results. The focus of the health RCS evaluations ranged from individuals and institutions to national, regional and global levels. Our analysis identified tensions around how much stakeholders should participate in an evaluation, the appropriate balance between measuring and learning and between a focus on short-term processes vs longer-term impact and sustainability. Suggested solutions to these tensions included early and ongoing stakeholder engagement in planning and evaluating health RCS, modelling of impact pathways and rapid assimilation of lessons learned for continuous improvement of decision making and programming. The use of developmental approaches could improve health RCS evaluations by addressing common tensions and promoting sustainability. Sharing learning about how to do robust and useful health RCS evaluations should happen alongside, not after, health RCS efforts.

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Strengthening research capacity through regional partners: the HRP Alliance at the World Health Organization.

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Strengthening research capacity through regional partners: the HRP Alliance at the World Health Organization.

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