scholarly journals Qualitative study to develop processes and tools for the assessment and tracking of African institutions’ capacity for operational health research

BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. e016660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selina Wallis ◽  
Donald C Cole ◽  
Oumar Gaye ◽  
Blandina T Mmbaga ◽  
Victor Mwapasa ◽  
...  

ObjectivesResearch is key to achieving global development goals. Our objectives were to develop and test an evidence-informed process for assessing health research management and support systems (RMSS) in four African universities and for tracking interventions to address capacity gaps.SettingFour African universities.Participants83 university staff and students from 11 cadres.Intervention/methodsA literature-informed ‘benchmark’ was developed and used to itemise all components of a university’s health RMSS. Data on all components were collected during site visits to four African universities using interview guides, document reviews and facilities observation guides. Gaps in RMSS capacity were identified against the benchmark and institutional action plans developed to remedy gaps. Progress against indicators was tracked over 15 months and common challenges and successes identified.ResultsCommon gaps in operational health research capacity included no accessible research strategy, a lack of research e-tracking capability and inadequate quality checks for proposal submissions and contracts. Feedback indicated that the capacity assessment was comprehensive and generated practical actions, several of which were no-cost. Regular follow-up helped to maintain focus on activities to strengthen health research capacity in the face of challenges.ConclusionsIdentification of each institutions’ strengths and weaknesses against an evidence-informed benchmark enabled them to identify gaps in in their operational health research systems, to develop prioritised action plans, to justify resource requests to fulfil the plans and to track progress in strengthening RMSS. Use of a standard benchmark, approach and tools enabled comparisons across institutions which has accelerated production of evidence about the science of research capacity strengthening. The tools could be used by institutions seeking to understand their strengths and to address gaps in research capacity. Research capacity gaps that were common to several institutions could be a ‘smart’ investment for governments and health research funders.

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Redman-MacLaren ◽  
David J MacLaren ◽  
Humpress Harrington ◽  
Rowena Asugeni ◽  
Relmah Timothy-Harrington ◽  
...  

F1000Research ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Pulford ◽  
Natasha Price ◽  
Jessica Amegee Quach ◽  
Imelda Bates

Background: Development partners and research councils are increasingly investing in research capacity strengthening initiatives in low- and middle-income countries to support sustainable research systems. However, there are few reported evaluations of research capacity strengthening initiatives and no agreed evaluation metrics. Methods: To advance progress towards a standardised set of outcome and impact indicators, this paper presents a structured review of research capacity strengthening indicators described in the published and grey literature. Results: We identified a total of 668 indicators of which 40% measured output, 59.5% outcome and 0.5% impact. Only 1% of outcome and impact indicators met all four quality criteria applied. A majority (63%) of reported outcome indicators clustered in four focal areas, including: research management and support (97/400), the attainment and application of new research skills and knowledge (62/400), research collaboration (53/400), and knowledge transfer (39/400). Conclusions: Whilst this review identified few examples of quality research capacity strengthening indicators, it has identified priority focal areas in which outcome and impact indicators could be developed as well as a small set of ‘candidate’ indicators that could form the basis of development efforts.


2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. e1351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Happiness Minja ◽  
Christian Nsanzabana ◽  
Christine Maure ◽  
Axel Hoffmann ◽  
Susan Rumisha ◽  
...  

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