scholarly journals OC 8586 INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH CAPACITY BUILDING FOR MULTI-DISCIPLINARY HEALTH RESEARCH TO SUPPORT THE HEALTH SYSTEM REBUILDING PHASE IN SIERRA LEONE

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A15.1-A15
Author(s):  
Wurie Haja

BackgroundThe EDCTP-funded project ‘Institutional capacity development for multi-disciplinary health research to support the health system rebuilding phase in Sierra Leone’ (RECAP-SL) created a solid platform on which sustainable research capacity can be built at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS) at the University of Sierra Leone. This in turn will support the much-needed evidence-based health systems reconstruction phase in Sierra Leone and support the evolution of the research landscape at COMAHS.Methods and resultsWe established a research centre at COMAHS and conducted a research needs assessment. This informed the development of short- and long-term action plans to support sustainable institutional research capacity development and enabled the development of a four-year research strategy. These plans also served as a guide for subsequent research partnerships in terms of capacity building efforts to address identified challenges.We also focused on training four research fellows and developed a wider student engagement platform to help cultivate a research culture. The research fellows will support other researchers at COMAHS, thus promoting sustainability of the research centre. Continued professional development opportunities for the fellows are also being actively sought, to develop them up to doctoral level, which addresses one of the gaps identified in the capacity assessment report.ConclusionTo support sustainability, capacity building efforts are being designed to ensure that these gains are maintained over time, with international and national research partners and funders recognising the importance of further developing local research capacity. Through a multi-pronged approach, health systems research capacity has been strengthened in Sierra Leone. This will support the generation of evidence that will inform building sustainable health systems fit for responding cohesively to outbreaks and for delivering services across the country, especially for the most disadvantaged populations.

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-336
Author(s):  
Corey L. Moore ◽  
Edward O. Manyibe ◽  
Perry Sanders ◽  
Fariborz Aref ◽  
Andre L. Washington ◽  
...  

Purpose: The purpose of this multimethod study was to evaluate the institutional research capacity building and infrastructure model (IRCBIM), an emerging innovative and integrated approach designed to build, strengthen, and sustain adequate disability and health research capacity (i.e., research infrastructure and investigators’ research skills) at tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) and other minority-serving institutions. Methods: A qualitative case study design was used to evaluate the model based on the perspectives of three different study participant groups (i.e., faculty members, staff/administrators, and students). Semistructured interviews, document review, and observation were used to collect data. Results: The IRCBIM showed promise in improving learning and retention outcomes, creating a pipeline for producing new Indigenous researchers and contributing toward their graduate schools success, and building institutional research environment and prestige. The challenges category addresses overall issues deemed to impede and limit the institution’s disability and health research capacity. Conclusions: The findings support IRCBIM as a promising institutional research capacity building approach. Such sustained efforts, coupled with synergistic long-term federal research agency (i.e., National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research) sponsorship, could empower TCUs to make “new knowledge” contributions to improving employment, community living and participation, and health outcomes among tribal community members with disabilities.


Author(s):  
Christopher Oura ◽  
Kathryn C. Conlon ◽  
Woutrina Smith ◽  
Craig Stephen ◽  
Barry Blakley ◽  
...  

PLoS Medicine ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
pp. e299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imelda Bates ◽  
Alex Yaw Osei Akoto ◽  
Daniel Ansong ◽  
Patrick Karikari ◽  
George Bedu-Addo ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
My Fridell ◽  
Sanna Edwin ◽  
Johan von Schreeb ◽  
Dell D. Saulnier

Background: Health systems are based on 6 functions that need to work together at all times to effectively deliver safe and quality health services. These functions are vulnerable to shocks and changes; if a health system is unable to withstand the pressure from a shock, it may cease to function or collapse. The concept of resilience has been introduced with the goal of strengthening health systems to avoid disruption or collapse. The concept is new within health systems research, and no common description exists to describe its meaning. The aim of this study is to summarize and characterize the existing descriptions of health system resilience to improve understanding of the concept. Methods and Analysis: A scoping review was undertaken to identify the descriptions and characteristics of health system resilience. Four databases and gray literature were searched using the keywords "health system" and "resilience" for published documents that included descriptions, frameworks or characteristics of health system resilience. Additional documents were identified from reference lists. Four expert consultations were conducted to gain a broader perspective. Descriptions were analysed by studying the frequency of key terms and were characterized by using the World Health Organization (WHO) health system framework. The scoping review identified eleven sources with descriptions and 24 sources that presented characteristics of health system resilience. Frequently used terms that were identified in the literature were shock, adapt, maintain, absorb and respond. Change and learning were also identified when combining the findings from the descriptions, characteristics and expert consultations. Leadership and governance were recognized as the most important building block for creating health system resilience. Discussion: No single description of health system resilience was used consistently. A variation was observed on how resilience is described and to what depth it was explained in the existing literature. The descriptions of health system resilience primarily focus on major shocks. Adjustments to long-term changes and the element of learning should be considered for a better understating of health system resilience.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document