Sustainable Research Capacity Research Articles

Assessment of Higher Education Programmes for Enhancing the Postgraduate Community

This article assesses the higher education research capacity building programmes designed to enhance the postgraduate community and scholarly publishing. Post-graduate studies are potential components for promoting knowledge, increasing institutional outputs. Post-graduate studies are likely to create research profile for students who seek future academic appointments. In spite of that higher institutions in low-income countries face serious challenges in building research capacity. This is compounded by local institutional competition for rankings and ratings. To some extent, investments in research usually take a long time before leading to demonstrable results. Yet again postgraduate students across disciplines feel pressure to publish their scholarship and remain unsure partly due to a lack of explicit training. Once more part of academic written output remains unpublished resulting to grey literature. Publishing requires a cocktail of skills in practical activities, and a broad awareness of theoretical/academic developments and trends. A large number of agencies evolved to offer programmes with the aim to expand research capacity in certain kinds of institutions. Institutions hold opposing mechanisms for supporting and sustaining research capacity among postgraduate students. A desk study approach is considered to collect data. Desktop study reviewed the key strategies, models for building postgraduate research capacity and programmes designed for increasing postgraduate scholarly publishing among the South African universities. The research reveals that the Cooke’s framework potentially offers a mechanism to contribute to the realisation of the research capacity building goals. A set of recommendations are offered for programme improvement.

Identifying critical gaps in research to advance global surgery by 2030: a systematic mapping review

Progress on surgical system strengthening has been slow due to a disconnect between evidence generation and the information required for effective policymaking. This systematic mapping review sought to assess critical research gaps in the field of global surgery guided by the World Health Organisation Health Systems building block framework, analysis of authorship and funding patterns, and an exploration of emerging research partnership networks. Literature was systematically mapped to identify, screen, and synthesize results of publications in the global surgery field between 2015 and March 2022. We searched four databases and included literature published in seven languages. A social network analysis determined the network attributes of research institutions and their transient relationships in shaping the global surgery research agenda. We identified 2,298 relevant studies out of 92,720 unique articles searched. Research output increased from 453 in 2015-16 to 552 in 2021-22, largely due to literature on Covid-19 impacts on surgery. Sub-Saharan Africa (792/2298) and South Asia (331/2298) were the most studied regions, although high-income countries represented a disproportionate number of first (42%) and last (43%) authors. Service delivery received the most attention, including the surgical burden and quality and safety of services, followed by capacity-building efforts in low- and middle-income countries. Critical research in economics and financing, essential infrastructure and supplies, and surgical leadership necessary to guide policy decisions at the country level were lacking. Global surgical systems remain largely under-researched. Knowledge diffusion requires an emphasis on developing sustainable research partnerships and capacity across low- and middle-income countries. A renewed focus must be given to equipping countries with tools for effective decision-making to enhance investments in high-quality surgical services.

Student achievement trajectories in Ontario: Creating and validating a province-wide, multi-cohort and longitudinal database.

Longitudinal data that tracks student achievement over many years are crucial for understanding children's learning and for guiding effective policies and interventions. Despite being Canada's most populous province, Ontario lacks such large-scale and longitudinal data on student learning. Linking datasets across cohorts requires rigorous linkage protocols, flexible handling of complex cohort structures, methods to validate linked datasets, and viable organizational partnerships. We linked administrative data on early child development and educational achievement and merged two datasets on characteristics of students' neighborhoods and schools. We developed a linkage protocol and validated how the resulting database could be generalized to Ontario's student population. Two main individual-level data sources were linked: 1) the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a school readiness assessment of all Ontario public school kindergartners that is administered in three-year cycles, and 2) Ontario's Educational Quality and Assessment Office's (EQAO) math and reading assessments in grades 3, 6, 9, and 10. To compensate for their lack of a common personal identification number, a deterministic linkage process was developed using several administrative variables. A school-level and a neighborhood-level dataset were also later linked. We examined differences between unlinked and linked cases across several variables. We successfully linked 50% of the EDI's 374,239 cases, 86,778 of which contained all five datapoints, creating a database tracking achievement for multiple cohorts from kindergarten through grade 10, with covariates for their development, demographics, affect, neighborhoods, and schools. Analyses revealed only negligible differences between linked and unlinked cases across several demographic measures, while small differences were detected across a neighborhood socioeconomic index and some measures of child development. In conclusion, we recommend the filling of key voids in sustainable research capacity by creating representative data through linkage protocols and data verification.

Self Regulation in Sustainable Research Capacity Learning Environments during the Pandemic

Self Regulation in Sustainable Research Capacity Learning Environments during the Pandemic

Mentoring as a pathway to building research capacity in the field of innovation and development studies in Africa

ABSTRACT Mentorship may be conceptualised in terms of the form it takes, function it serves or it’s learning centred nature which makes research in mentoring to receive attention within different disciplines. This article attempts to understand how a mentoring programme can contribute to enhanced research capacity building in the field of Innovation and Development (I&D) studies in Africa. It does this through a qualitative study of an African-oriented research capacity building network (AfricaLics) that aims at building a critical mass of scholars in I&D studies in the continent of Africa. Drawing on theoretical approaches in higher education that support systems of interaction thinking, the paper finds that more systematic and extensive mentorship, and awareness about different types of mentorship can enhance capacity building in the field of I&D studies. The paper recommends that development of an I&D mentorship programme must consider a mix of both structured and unstructured elements that are aligned to the local context. These context-specific elements are critical to building sustainable research capacity building programmes in academic disciplines that are transdisciplinary in nature such as I&D studies.

Building sustainable research capacity at higher learning institutions in Tanzania through mentoring of the Young Research Peers

BackgroundSustainability of research culture in Sub-Saharan Africa is threatened in part by the lack of a critical mass of young researchers with the requisite skills and interest to undertake research careers. This paper describes an intensive mentorship programme combining hierarchical (vertical) and peer-to-peer (horizontal) mentoring strategies among young researchers in a resource limited setting in Sub-Saharan Africa.MethodsA consortium of three partnering large Tanzanian health training institutions (MUHAS, CUHAS and KCMUCo) and two collaborating US institutions (UCSF and Duke University) was formed as part of the five-year Transforming Health Professions Education in Tanzania (THET) project, funded by the NIH through Health Professional Education Partnership Initiative (HEPI). Within THET, the Community of Young Research Peers (CYRP) was formed, comprising of inter-professional and cross-institutional team of 12 Master-level Young Research Peers and 10 co-opted fellows from the former MEPI-Junior Faculty (MEPI-JF) project. The Young Peers received mentorship from senior researchers from the consortium through mentored research awards and research training, and in turn provided reciprocal peer-to-peer mentorship as well as mentorship to undergraduate students.ResultsAt the end of the first 2 years of the project, all 12 Young Peers were proceeding well with mentored research awards, and some were at more advanced stages. For example, three articles were already published in peer reviewed journals and two other manuscripts were in final stages of preparation. All 12 Young Peers participated in CYRP-wide thematic training workshops on mentoring and secondary data analysis; 11 had undertaken at least three research training short courses in identified areas of need; 9 joined at least one other ongoing research project; 5 made at least one scientific presentation, and 5 participated in at least one submitted grant application. Half of the Young Peers have enrolled in PhD programmes. A collective total of 41 undergraduate students were actively mentored by the Young Peers in research.ConclusionThe CYRP has demonstrated to be an effective model for dual vertical and horizontal mentorship in research to young investigators in resource-limited settings. This model is recommended to educators working on developing research competence of early career researchers, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

\u2018We always find things to learn from.\u2019 Lessons from the implementation of the global maternal sepsis study on research capacity: a qualitative study

BackgroundResearch capacity strengthening could be an indirect outcome of implementing a research project. The objective of this study was to explore the ability of the global maternal sepsis study (GLOSS), implemented in 52 countries, to develop and strengthen sexual and reproductive health research capacity of local participants in low- and middle- income participating countries.MethodsWe carried out a qualitative study employing grounded theory in sixteen countries in Africa and Latin America. We used inductive and deductive methods through a focus group discussion and semi-structured interviews for the emergence of themes. Participants of the focus group discussion (n = 8) were GLOSS principal investigators (PIs) in Latin America. Interviewees (n = 63) were selected by the country GLOSS PIs in both Africa and Latin America, and included a diverse sample of participants involved in different aspects of study implementation. Eighty-two percent of the participants were health workers. We developed a conceptual framework that took into consideration data obtained from the focus group and refined it based on data from the interviews.ResultsSix themes emerged from the data analysis: recognized need for research capacity, unintended effects of participating in research, perceived ownership and linkage with the research study, being just data collectors, belonging to an institution that supports and fosters research, and presenting study results back to study implementers. Research capacity strengthening needs were consistently highlighted including involvement in protocol development, training and technical support, data analysis, and project management. The need for institutional support for researchers to conduct research was also emphasised.ConclusionThis study suggests that research capacity strengthening of local researchers was an unintentional outcome of the large multi-country study on maternal sepsis. However, for sustainable research capacity to be built, study coordinators and funders need to deliberately plan for it, addressing needs at both the individual and institutional level.

Developing the multi-professional clinical academic workforce in Australia and New Zealand: a scoping review

In Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), clinical academics are an important part of the workforce needed to deliver social and economic returns from health and medical research investment. This review aims to examine the extent and nature of the empirical evidence base addressing the development of the multi-professional clinical academic workforce in ANZ and to synthesise policy-relevant findings. The review adopts a scoping review design. Literature searches were undertaken in February 2019 in Medline (Ovid), Scopus, and CINAHL, with reference lists and websites also searched for additional literature. Papers eligible for inclusion were those published in English in 2000–2018 that reported results of empirical studies that addressed factors relating to developing the ANZ clinical academic workforce size, composition or role through building, enabling or sustaining its research functions. Results were reported narratively using a labour market policy framework. A total of 43 studies representing a diverse range of health professions and study designs were included in the review, only two of which reported on the New Zealand context. The majority were focused on building, supporting and sustaining research capacity and engagement among groups of clinicians within clinical settings. Use of three labour market policy levers to frame analysis enabled identification of issues relating to rural/urban workforce maldistribution, in addition to more widely reported clinical academic workforce production and retention issues. The literature addressing the development of the clinical academic health workforce in ANZ frames this workforce either as clinicians who routinely engage in research activity, or as a workforce cadre comprised of distinct, formalised research-related clinical roles. As such, developing the clinical academic workforce requires both: i) policy attention to the availability of research training opportunities for health professional students and graduates and of dedicated research-related career pathways; and ii) structures and processes that enable or inhibit research engagement among clinicians at a mid-career level.

Strengthening research capacity in LMICs to address the global NCD burden

ABSTRACT The burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) continues to rise across the globe, and the risk of dying prematurely from an NCD in a low- and middle-income country (LMIC) is almost double that in a high-income country. Confronting this crisis requires a critical mass of scientists who are well versed in regional health problems and understand the cultural, social, economic, and political contexts that influence the effectiveness of interventions to address NCDs. Investing in research capacity strengthening in LMICs is critical to effectively combating disease, and local researchers are best poised to address the health challenges in their home countries given their understanding of the unique culture and context in which they are working. The Fogarty International Center of the U.S. National Institutes of Health has a set of programs focused on building individual and institutional NCD research capacity in LMICs. The Programs provide models for sustainable scientific research capacity strengthening, innovative funding mechanisms and partnership-building approaches. Investing in the training and scientific capacity of LMIC individuals and institutions not only helps foster a research culture and solidify local ownership of research, but it also ensures that the most appropriate solutions are developed, increasing the likelihood that those solutions will sustain over time. In addition, the Programs’ investigators have advanced the science across a range of NCDs and associated risk factors. This article describes key lessons and compelling cases from the Programs that can be harnessed by other health researchers and funders to further the global response to the NCD burden.

A Data-informed Model for Building Research Capacity in Out-of-home Care and Treatment Settings for Children and Youth

ABSTRACT In response to the continuing need for agencies providing residential care and treatment to children and youth to develop and/or to enhance their ability to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of their services, this article explores successful strategies for building and sustaining research capacity in these settings. Between five and six years following a collaborative project to implement a program of outcomes research across 37 sites (representing 32 agencies) in two southeastern states, the authors investigated the extent to which research infrastructure and activities had been sustained and/or expanded since the project ended and examined the role of various factors in facilitating and supporting these efforts. At the time of this follow-up study, 24 (75%) of the agencies participating in the original study were still in operation (in the same or some modified form). Of these, 20 (83.3%) responded to an online survey. Overall, data supported a nine-step model for building research capacity that can serve as a guide for a wide range of agencies seeking to obtain scientifically sound data regarding the outcomes of children in their care.

Developing sustainable nursing and allied health professional research capacity.

Research provides the evidence on which to base effective, safe clinical services. Engaging healthcare staff in research improves healthcare. However, clinical staff may not want to leave clinical practice to develop their research experience. Gaining postdoctoral research experience is a difficult step to make and opportunities are limited. To describe an approach to developing sustainable research capacity by supporting nurses and allied health professionals to develop their postdoctoral research skills while remaining in clinical practice. An approach to developing nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals (NMAHPs)'s postdoctoral research skills was devised and implemented in an acute NHS hospital in England. This collaborative approach involved negotiating strategic support from senior managers and incorporated an action-learning framework to develop and fund a research project addressing a clinical priority. A 'whole organisation' approach is needed to develop postdoctoral nurse and NMAHP researchers that requires a reflexive model with strategic, organisational and individual support encompassing action learning and corporate buy-in from senior managers. Taking such an approach can enable nurses to remain in practice while developing NMAHP-led research. This shows its usefulness to senior managers and enables nurses to have the knowledge and confidence to support others to develop their research skills.

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

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.

OC 8526 THE RWANDA CLINICAL RESEARCH NETWORK (RWANDA-CRN): A MODEL FOR MIXED SOUTH-SOUTH AND NORTH-SOUTH COLLABORATIONS FOR CLINICAL RESEARCH CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT

BackgroundPoor countries carry 90% of the global burden of disease, with access to only 10% of globally available health research funding and technical capacity. Fragile south–south collaborations hinder effective use of limited resources, career opportunities and funding to retain the insufficiently available quality scientists. The Rwanda Health System established a clinical research network involving academia, non-governmental organisations and private sector to accelerate generation of talented scientists, create enabling environment and incentives to retain scientists by establishing a local funding model.MethodsBased on a baseline assessment, potential clinical trial units were mapped and developed through adoption of a Clinical trial management training model from European Universities. The Rwandan law on Public Private Partnership was leveraged to attract and engage local and international private players in a win-win approach. So far, countries such as Kenya and Sweden were engaged in the roadmap.ResultsFrom 2014 to date, a total of 285 scientists are trained on various clinical research components: Good Clinical Practice (28%), Research Grant writing (14%), systematic review and meta-analysis (9%) and scientific communication (8.7%). Ten Clinical Research Units and one centre for evidence-based healthcare were established. So far 13 health investigator-initiated projects in malaria, metabolic disorders and maternal health were funded through the local funding model. A process to empower six malaria sentinel sites into fully functioning clinical research sites is underway.ConclusionThe creation of strong networks of excellence for’clinical research among southern academic, research institutions and pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical industry is a promising strategic approach to promote sustainable clinical research capacity. The government vision is that beyond national boundaries, resource sharing and involvement of private players are key factors to mitigate the high burden of disease, nationally and regionally.

PO 8573 RESEARCH, MENTORSHIP AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: IS RETIREMENT AGE A HURDLE TO RESEARCH SUSTAINABILITY IN AFRICA?

BackgroundRetirement age in most of sub-Saharan Africa is between 55 and 60 years, even in academic and research institutions. There is no mechanism to retain even the few most experienced and outstanding among them. There is evidence that institutions retaining experienced researchers access better large research grants.MethodsWe conducted literature review and shared views and experiences among peer research scientistsResultsMost African scientists obtain their first degrees aged 25–30 years. Economic needs compounded with work experience requirements for PhD studies delay their research career development such that most PhD graduates are 40–50 years of age. However, unlike in the developed world where the majority acquire their PhDs in their late 20’s or early 30’s, there is no mechanism to retain them longer at work to maximise their contributions to scientific developments. Instead, African scientists are forced to retire young at 60 years of age. On the contrary, developed countries scientists graduate earlier, work longer and have retention mechanisms even after retirement. African countries do not consider retaining even the few who have demonstrated outstanding performance. Consequently, outstanding research scientists retire at the time when they are needed most. They seek and get jobs abroad or in externally owned projects (brain drain). Their decade or so of work, generates more resources abroad, depriving Africa of resource generating capacity. Secondly, retiring at the height of their performance is economically counterproductive. Thirdly, this affects negatively the career development of young scientists for lack of experienced supervisors and mentors.ConclusionAfrica must rethink the retirement age of its research scientists and create incentives to retain outstanding research scientists who reach retirement age. This is urgently needed to stop brain drain, contribute to economic development, and accelerate ongoing efforts to build sustainable research capacity and mentorship programmes in Africa.

Building sustainable operational research capacity in Pakistan: starting with tuberculosis and expanding to other public health problems

ABSTRACTBackground: For many years, operational research capacity has been a challenge and has remained a low priority for the health sector in Pakistan. Building research capacity for developing a critical mass of researchers in Pakistan was done through Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT) courses in Paris and Asia between 2010 and 2016.Objective: The aim of this paper is to describe the journey of SORT-IT in Pakistan from its inception to progressive expansion and discuss the challenges and ways forward.Methods: The journey began with the training of the Pakistan NTP research team lead in 2010 in an international SORT IT course at Paris. This was followed by training of two team members in Asia SORT IT courses in 2014 and 2015. These three then worked together to conceive and implement the first national Pakistan SORT IT course supported by WHO/TDR and the Global Fund in 2016. This was facilitated by international facilitators and local trained SORT-IT participants from Paris and Asia. This was followed by two further national SORT IT courses in 2017 and 2018.Results: Between 2010 and 2017, a total of 34 participants from Pakistan had been enrolled in national and international SORT IT courses. Of the 23 participants from completed courses, 18(78%) successfully completed the course. In total 18 papers were submitted and up until June 2018, 15(83%) have been published and 21 institutions in Pakistan involved with operational research as a result of the SORT IT initiative.Conclusions: The SORT IT course has been an effective way to build operational research capacity at national level and this has resulted in a large number of published papers providing local evidence for decision making on TB and other disease control programmes. The experience from Pakistan should stimulate other countries to adopt the SORT-IT model.

2324 A community-academic partnership to understand the correlates of successful aging in place (year 2)

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Objective: The Rockefeller University Center for Clinical and Translational Science (RU-CCTS), Clinical Directors Network (CDN), and Carter Burden Network (CBN), a multisite senior services organization serving East Harlem, NY, formed a community-academic partnership to examine the use of a simple validated surrogate measure of overall health status and frailty in this population. Many CBN seniors are racial/ethnic minorities, low-income, and suffer from multiple chronic conditions, depression and food insecurity. Multiple biological, musculoskeletal, psychosocial and nutritional factors contribute to frailty, which has been defined variously in senior health outcomes research. The CTSA-funded Pilot Project aims to: (1) Engage CBN seniors and stakeholders in priority-setting, joint protocol development, research conduct, analysis, and dissemination; (2) Characterize the health status of the CBN seniors using validated measures; (3) Establish database infrastructure for current and future research; (4) Understand how health and senior activities information can be used to create programs to improve senior health. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Methods: (1) CEnR-Navigation, a collaborative program/process that consists of semistructured meetings and activities facilitated by expert Navigators, was used for partnership development and to engage Carter Burden seniors to refine priorities and research questions, provide feedback on study design and conduct, and analyze and disseminate results. (2) Standard physical measurements and validated survey instruments were used to collect health information; target enrollment is 240 seniors across 2 sites (1 hosted within a subsidized housing facility and Social Model Adult Day Program). (3) A REDCap-based platform was designed for data capture and import. Individual attendance at senior activities for the prior year was extracted from existing records. The primary outcome is frailty, as measured by validated walk/balance tests (Short Physical Performance Battery). Secondary outcomes include measures of engagement, and association of use of services/activities with the primary outcome. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: (1) In total, 29 residents and 14 other stakeholders engaged in partnership-building, study design and implementation. (2) From May to November 2017, 98 participants were enrolled from site 1 (a residential site). Enrollment at site 2 (a senior center), begun in November, is projected for February completion. Characteristics of site 1 participants: median age=63.6 years; Hispanic, 44.90% (44); White, 13.89% (10), Black, 62.50% (45); Asian, 4.17% (3); American Indian or Alaskan Native, 2.78% (2), and Other, 16.67% (12). Educational attainment: 51.04% (49) had not completed high school; 19.79% (19) were high school graduates; 18.75% (18) completed some college, and 10.42% (10) were college graduates. For the 85 participants reporting annual income: 64.71% (55) reported <$10,000; 28.24% (24) reported $10,000–$15,000; 7.06% (6) were among the ranges from $15,000 to $50,000. The average body mass index (BMI) was 30, which is obese. For 83.67% (82) of site 1 participants, the BMI was in the range of overweight or obese. Half of participants (49) reported health literacy barriers in the Single Item Health Literacy Survey. Demographics and Frailty assessments (walk and balance tests) for participants enrolled at both sites will be reported. (3) Activity participation data for July 2016–November 2017 were recovered for 507 sessions at site 1 and are being analyzed. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Here we report progress in developing a sustainable community-academic partnership, infrastructure and research capacity with the CBN senior services organization, and characterizing this at-risk population, of whom 71% have a high school education or less, 93% live in extreme poverty, and 84% are overweight or obese. A simple validated frailty measure in seniors will enable the acceleration of community-based translational research addressing senior health, and examine changes in this measure in relationship to the utilization of senior services.

Strategies for developing sustainable health research capacity in low and middle-income countries: a prospective, qualitative study investigating the barriers and enablers to locally led clinical trial conduct in Ethiopia, Cameroon and Sri Lanka

ObjectivesIn 2013, the WHO stated that unless low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) become producers of research, health goals would be hard to achieve. Among the capacities required to build a...

Ground-up-top down: a mixed method action research study aimed at normalising research in practice for nurses and midwives

BackgroundImproving health, patient and system outcomes through a practice-based research agenda requires infrastructural supports, leadership and capacity building approaches, at both the individual and organisational levels. Embedding research as normal nursing and midwifery practice requires a flexible approach that is responsive to the diverse clinical contexts within which care is delivered and the variable research skills and interest of clinicians. This paper reports the study protocol for research being undertaken in a Local Health District (LHD) in New South Wales (NSW) Australia. The study aims to evaluate existing nursing and midwifery research activity, culture, capacity and capability across the LHD. This information, in addition to input from key stakeholders will be used to develop a responsive, productive and sustainable research capacity building framework aimed at enculturating practice-based research activities within and across diverse clinical settings of the LHD.MethodsA three-phased, sequential mixed-methods action research design underpinned by Normalization Process Theory (NPT).Participants will be nursing and midwifery clinicians and managers across rural and metropolitan services. A combination of survey, focus group, individual interviews and peer supported action-learning groups will be used to gather data. Quantitative data will be analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression, together with thematic analysis of qualitative data to produce an integrated report.DiscussionUnderstanding the current research activity and capacity of nurses and midwives, together with organisational supports and culture is essential to developing a productive and sustainable research environment. However, knowledge alone will not bring about change. This study will move beyond description of barriers to research participation for nurses and midwives and the promulgation of various capacity building frameworks to employ a theory driven action-oriented approach to normalisation of nursing and midwifery research practice. In doing so, our aim is to make possible the utilisation, generation and translation of practice based research that informs improved patient and service delivery outcomes.

Challenges and Optimism for Sustainable Research Capacity in Sierra Leone

Abstract This article has provided a non-empirical approach in addressing the potential for sustainable research at all levels in Sierra Leone. It is an indisputable fact that remnants of the civil crisis and more lately, the Ebola crisis have contributed to the country’s under-developed research potential, more so at higher education level where the pace seemed to be slow in comparison to other countries in the West African sub-region. The country is making some strides in forging ahead with efforts being placed by individuals / institutions to improve opportunities for high level research in the country, but such a venture is faced with serious challenges. Highlights of some of the challenges include development of institutional capacity, strong strategic management capacity, and development in human capacity. Recommendations have also suggested attention focused on the building of strong institutional capacity and investment as the way forward in the sustained pathway of the country’s development.

Evaluating a complex research capacity-building intervention: Reflections on an evaluation of the African Institutions Initiative

There is increasing policy demand for real-time evaluations of research and capacity-building programmes reflecting a recognition of the management, governance and impact gains that can result. However, the evidence base on how to successfully implement real-time evaluations of complex interventions in international development efforts is scarce. There is therefore a need for reflective work that considers methodologies in context. This article shares learning from the experience of conducting a participatory, real-time, ‘theory driven’ evaluation of the African Institutions Initiative, a Wellcome Trust-funded programme that aimed to build sustainable health research capacity in Africa at institutional and network levels, across seven research consortia. We reflect on the key challenges experienced and ways of managing them, highlight opportunities and critical success factors associated with this evaluation approach, compared with alternative evaluation approaches.