Role Of Technical Assistance Research Articles

The Ford Foundation and the Community Facilities Program in Chile: a proposal between local needs and foreign technical assistance (1964–1969)

Abstract Between 1964 and 1969, the Ford Foundation developed the Community Facilities Program in Chile, which articulated technical and financial assistance in the field of architecture and the training of local experts, in addition to its action in the renovation of state structures related to housing and urban planning. In this context, the design strategy introduced innovations based on architectural research that were a pedagogical novelty, which contributed to the discussion on the role of technical assistance in the Southern Cone, redefining the relationship between philanthropy, state and University.

A Partnership Among Local Public Health Agencies, Elementary Schools, and a University to Address Childhood Obesity: A Scalable Model of the Assess, Identify, Make It Happen Process.

One pathway to addressing childhood obesity is through implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) shown to promote nutrition and physical activity in K-12 school settings. Assess, Identify, Make it happen (AIM) is a strategic planning process to engage stakeholders in implementing EBPs in their K-12 schools. Local Public Health Agencies (LPHAs) are a potential partner to facilitate this process to a broader audience of rural school communities. A process and outcome evaluation design was applied in this study to examine the extent to which LPHAs effectively implemented AIM with rural/frontier schools in comparison to university staff. Data collection included post-meeting surveys completed by facilitators, a post-intervention interview with facilitators, a survey of school task force members at the end of the AIM process, and systematic documentation of the intervention. Reach -Among the 26 eligible elementary schools, 18 (69%) agreed to participate. Effect -In total, schools facilitated by LPHAs fully implemented an average of 4.0 changes per school, while schools facilitated by the university staff fully implemented an average of 3.7 changes. Adoption -Among the five LPHAs in the target region, all five agreed to partner on the initiative, but some agencies were unable to identify sufficient personnel to facilitate all schools in their catchment area. Implementation -(1) In total, 89 of 94 (95%) meetings scheduled by LPHA facilitators occurred. 47 of 48 (98%) meetings scheduled by the university staff occurred. (2) The university staff self-reported 93% of agenda items in the AIM process as "completely" followed while LPHA facilitators reported 41% of agenda items as "completely" followed. (3) Task force satisfaction with the AIM process and facilitator showed limited variance across LPHAs and university-facilitated schools. Maintenance -Of the 16 school districts that agreed to participate in the school-based version of AIM, 9 (56%) also participated in a district-wide version of AIM 2 years later. AIM is an effective process for implementing EBPs in elementary schools when facilitated by LPHAs. Effective partnerships, a nuanced approach to fidelity, scalability considerations, and the role of technical assistance and training all contributed to the successful implementation of this LPHA-Elementary school partnership.

Inclusão de empreendimentos da agricultura familiar de Santa Catarina a novos mercados

This study aimed to analyze the participation of family farming enterprises in Santa Catarina in Exposuper on-line, held in 2020 virtually, through an interactive digital platform, where suppliers and partners presented their products, services and equipment for supermarkets in Santa Catarina and other Brazilian states. With the help of the State Secretariat for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, 44 virtual stands were made available for SantaCatarina enterprises. Exposuper 2020, in virtual format, was an important exercise for technical assistance to enterprises, with challenges for a new event model and a changing market, which suggests a reflection on the role of technical assistance with the enterprises served. Of the total, 70% of the enterprises would participate again in an event such as Exposuper online, 8.8% would not participate and 20.6 would perhaps participate. Family farming has differentiated products that have great potential toreach new markets. However, agricultural enterprises need better qualification to be able to compete in this new business model and make their products known to consumers. Strategies connected with technical assistance are needed to leverage the reach of new markets.

The Role of Technical Assistance in School Wellness Policy Enhancement.

School settings offer an opportunity to impact student health and wellness. Quality wellness policies are important in establishing strong wellness environments, but current resources to support policy development, maintenance, and dissemination are lacking. The Building Healthy Schools Program aimed to develop capacity of school districts to improve the strength and comprehensiveness of wellness policies and sustain these activities. Fifteen school districts in Pennsylvania participated in a program to facilitate the improvement of district wellness policies and practices. Program staff provided technical assistance to evaluate wellness policies before and after program implementation. Professional development and tailored training was provided for school personnel to create sustainability. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate policy improvement. Thirteen of the 15 participating districts completed a policy revision. Median strength (p=.001) and comprehensiveness (p=.002) scores improved from baseline to post-program and there were significant improvements in most assessment sub-sections. Some districts were hesitant to make strong language improvements due to their limited capacity (ie, staff) for implementation. Champions (n=13; 87%) reported confidence to revise wellness policy language independently in the future. Technical assistance provided to districts facilitated significant improvements to wellness policy language, especially in the implementation, evaluation, and communication; critical components for policy impact on school wellness environments. In addition, participant feedback suggested an ability to sustain activities in the future. Both external (ie, technical assistance) and internal resources are needed to facilitate school districts' ongoing wellness policy improvement and implementation, including improved model wellness policy language and enforcement within schools, respectively.

Role of technical assistance in U.S. labor and health sector collaboration to address precarious work

Precarious work has recognized adverse impacts on the health of workers; however, there are few policy, systems and environmental (PSE) change public health interventions that target the causes and consequences of precarious work. To build the capacity of health organizations to develop and implement such interventions, researchers engaged representatives from health organizations in a six-session learning process, entitled the healthy work collaborative. Representatives of labor organizations were engaged as technical assistance (TA) providers, which involved sharing content and skill knowledge with health participants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with providers and participants to examine perceptions of the role of TA; providers' motivations for providing TA; and providers' and participants' perceptions of the impact of TA on learning and preparing for subsequent intervention. Results suggest that the provider-participant engagement evolved from one-way knowledge translation to a robust, two-way knowledge exchange with potential for collaborative intervention development and implementation. These results highlight the ways in which this provider-participant model facilitated engagement between representatives from sectors that had not previously worked together and suggests that such a model may be effective in catalyzing multi-level, multi-sectoral PSE change to address precarious work.

The role of technical assistance in expanding access to Xpert(®) MTB/RIF: experience in sub-Saharan Africa.

To improve tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis, many national TB programmes have committed to deploying Xpert(®) MTB/RIF. Implementation of this relatively new technology has suffered from a lack of comprehensive technical assistance, however, including the formulation of policies and plans to address operational issues. While providing technical assistance, we observed numerous operational challenges in the implementation and scale-up of Xpert in five sub-Saharan African countries: low coverage, poor laboratory infrastructure, limited access, poor linkages to treatment, inadequate data on outcomes, problems with specimen transport, diagnostic algorithms that are not aligned with updated World Health Organization recommendations on target patient groups and financing challenges. We recommend better country preparedness and training, laboratory information and quality systems, supply management and referral mechanisms.

Did Aid Promote Democracy in Africa? The Role of Technical Assistance in Africa’s Transitions

Did foreign aid impede or catalyze democratization in Africa in the 1990s? We argue that after the Cold War, donors increased their use of technical assistance in aid packages, improving their monitoring capacity and thus reducing autocrats’ ability to use aid for patronage. To remain in power, autocrats responded by conceding political rights to their opponents—from legalizing opposition parties to staging elections. We test our theory with panel data for all sub-Saharan African countries. While other factors played pivotal roles in Africa’s political liberalization, we find technical assistance helps to explain the timing and extent of Africa’s democratization.

Role of Technical Assistance in the Establishment and Scale Up of Programmatic Management of Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (PMDT) in Ethiopia

Implementation and scale up of programmatic management of drug resistant tuberculosis (PMDT) has proven to be a challenge in many resource-constrained settings like in Ethiopia, despite the political commitment. A critical programmatic gap analysis was conducted by technical experts to develop feasible recommendations for incorporating multi drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) management in the national TB program following international guidelines and receiving continuous technical and financial support. The major achievement was building of technical capacity in the country at the level of a national MDR-TB technical working group (TWG) as well as at the level of the MDR-TB treatment hospitals among the MDR management teams. In addition, guideline development, improved access to second line drugs and renovation of health facilities in accordance with TB infection control standards contributed to optimize implementation. Between February 2009 and September 2012, 575 MDR-TB patients accessed treatment under the program. Building programmatic and clinical capacity at different levels of the health system in combination with strong political commitment and partner's engagement were key elements of the PMDT approach. Structured technical assistance combined with financial support during key steps was critical in the initiation and subsequent scale up of the program.

AN ANALYSIS OF FUNDING DECISIONS FOR NICHE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

This paper examines the flow of funds from providers of capital to niche agricultural users of capital. Various programs through the US government, state/local economic development and private agencies work to improve the flow of capital to the niche agricultural sector. However, despite the expansion of programs aimed at providing financial resources to the agricultural sector, many sectors remain poorly served. Previous studies have suggested that agencies need to facilitate the flow of capital to small agricultural firms. The results showed that providers of capital believed more technical assistance was the best way to increase the flow of capital to producers. However, few providers of capital provided technical support. Regression analysis showed that the number of applications funded was significantly associated with the (1) weak/no business plan and (2) age of funding agency, while the percent of funds committed was significantly associated with weak/no business plan. The results provide managerial implications that can be used by funding agencies and niche agricultural producers to better understand obstacles to capital acquisition. Agencies may better understand the lack of technical assistance advice, especially because of the role of technical assistance in developing business plans, financial strategies and collateral requirements.

Evaluation of the healthy schools program: Part II. The role of technical assistance.

Evidence-based technical assistance may be needed to implement recent federal policy to prevent childhood obesity through the schools. The Healthy Schools Program is the largest school-based obesity prevention program in the United States. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the role of the program's training and technical assistance and to explore other contributing factors in changing school policies, practices, and environments. We analyzed interim progress of schools recruited during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years as of December 2010. Schools reported progress through an online inventory of policies, practices, and school environment. We compared baseline inventories to the most recent follow-up and tracked both training attendance and contact with national experts. To identify the factors associated with progress, we performed regression analysis on school level and demographics, number of months between baseline and follow-up, and technical assistance. The amount of training and technical assistance was significantly associated with school progress, controlling for school level and demographics, number of months between baseline and follow-up, and school status at baseline. Although all types of schools saw progress, schools in the South had the most progress and urban schools had the least progress. Evidence-based training and technical assistance were associated with school progress in changing policies, practices, and environment to prevent childhood obesity.

Training and Technical Assistance

The prevention and control of tobacco use are long-standing public health priorities. Over the past five decades, tobacco researchers, practitioners, and advocates have amassed a body of knowledge that informs effective policy and legislative actions, cessation services, and advocacy strategies. The successes of the tobacco control community afforded many people an opportunity to live tobacco-free, changed social norms and patterns of tobacco use, and lowered national prevalence (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010a, 2010b). These changes, however, have not been uniformly observed. There are persistently higher rates of tobacco use and greater disease burden among persons with low income and less education, in racial/ethnic minorities, in consumers with mental health disorders, among those who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer (GLBTQ), and for persons living with HIV/AIDS (Harris, 2010; Lee, Griffin, & Melvin, 2009; Trosclair & Duhe, 2010; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, 1998). These groups are often the targets of industry-sponsored campaigns to create and maintain a constituency (Barbeau, Leavy-Sperounis, & Balbach, 2004; Stevens, Carlson, & Hinman, 2004; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, 1998). A challenge to the tobacco control community is to ensure that its collective knowledge is used to lessen existing disparities. But what is the best way to make tobacco-free living a reality for all? How can policy, practice, evaluation, and research be combined to support this goal? And what is the role of technical assistance in this endeavor? Technical assistance and training (TAT) is widely used to transfer knowledge and technology and to assist states, locales, organizations, and individuals with building capacity to solve problems and achieve objectives (Choudhary, 2001; Godfrey et al., 2002; Thornton et al., 2004). After 1998, the Master Settlement Agreement provided resources that increased technical support for various state and local organizations (Thornton et al., 2004). Several states also increased tobacco taxes during this time and these price increases led to declines in the prevalence of smoking among youth and adults (Sloan & Trogdon, 2004). There are 427058 XXX10.1177/152483991142 7058EditorialHealth Promotion Practice / November 2011