MU-JHU Research Collaboration - Increased Community Participation in Research pla

描述(申请人提供)：Makerere大学医学院是在非洲大陆进行医学培训和研究的主要机构之一。在过去的二十年里，Makerere大学和世界各地的其他机构之间形成了强大的研究合作网络。这些合作极大地增加了研究量，并使大多数研究进行的当地社区受益。然而，研究议程的设计过程和研究优先事项的确定在很大程度上仍然是学术界的科学研究人员的领域，来自当地社区的投入有限。我们建议通过举办一系列会议、研讨会和工作坊，提高当地社区对在其社区内进行的生物医学或行为研究的参与和欣赏的水平。我们将让社区代表、地方政府官员、不同的研究机构和来自Makerere大学的博士后和卫生部官员参加这些会议和研讨会。我们计划聘请一名基于社区的参与性研究(CBPR)专家，并使用CBPR方法了解社区的需求、健康差距、优先事项和社区优先研究领域。我们还将探索目前用于向社区不同阶层传播研究信息的技术；使用SWOT分析来确定当前研究开发和传播技术中存在的差距，以及学术界和地方社区伙伴关系之间的差距。然后，我们将总结这次CBPR工作的结果，并强调加强研究科学家与当地社区之间联系的最可持续的沟通战略。随后，我们将举行一个研讨会，介绍社区研究的优先事项，并向学术界和当地社区代表介绍传播研究信息的创新策略。这笔赠款为加强乌干达现有的学术界-社区伙伴关系提供了独特的机会，并提供了一个渠道，使当地社区能够更多地参与制定研究议程，支持科学研究人员设计社区需要的研究项目，并创建一个可持续的信息传播机制。最终，这种关系将使学术界与当地社区更相关，并将导致更好地解决与社区相关的孕产妇、儿童和社区健康问题的研究。这反过来将有助于减少儿科和产妇的发病率/死亡率，并改善社区的整体保健服务。 公共卫生相关性：拟议的研究将与公共卫生相关，因为目前正在进行的大多数研究活动主要是回答通过调查者驱动的倡议提出的问题。这项研究将特别弥合学术界和地方社区之间的差距，特别是在制定儿科和产妇保健问题的研究议程方面。从长远来看，这将使科学家更多地关注科学问题，这些问题是特定社区的优先事项。收集的关于连接学术界和地方社区的最佳沟通战略的信息将极有帮助地指导决策者将最少的可用资源用于更具成本效益的战略。这项研究的总体成果将通过记录儿科和孕产妇艾滋病毒预防方面的研究优先领域，以及在确定优先研究领域方面获得社区投入，大大加强关于减少儿科和孕产妇艾滋病毒的干预措施的知识体系。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Makerere University Medical School is one of the premier institutions carrying out medical training and research on the African continent Over the last two decades a strong network of research collaborations between Makerere University and other institutions from around the world has evolved. These collaborations have tremendously increased the research volume as well as benefited the local communities where most of the research is conducted. However, the design processes of the research agenda and the determination of research priorities have remained largely the domain of the scientific research Investigators from the academic community with limited input from local communities We propose to enhance the level of local community participation and appreciation of biomedical or behavioral research carried out from within their communities through holding a series of meetings, seminars and workshops. We will involve community representatives, local government officials, the different research institutions and post - doctoral students from Makerere University and the Ministry of Health officials in these meetings and workshops. We plan to employ a Community based participatory research(CBPR) specialist and use CBPR methods to understand the community needs, health disparities, priorities and community priority areas for research. We will also explore the current techniques used for dissemination of research information to the different community strata; using a SWOT analysis to identify the gaps existing within the current research development and dissemination techniques between the academic and local community partnerships. We will then summarize the findings from this CBPR exercise and highlight the most sustainable communication strategies for strengthening linkages between research scientists with the local communities. A symposium will then be held where we will present the community research priorities and present innovative strategies for dissemination of research information to the Academic community and the local community representatives. This grant provides a unique opportunity for strengthening the existing academic - community partnerships in Uganda and providing a channel through which the local community can be more involved in setting the research agenda, support scientific investigators in designing community - needed research projects and create a sustainable mechanism for dissemination of information. Ultimately, this relationship will make the academic community more relevant to the local communities and will lead to research that better addresses maternal, child and community health issues relevant to the community. This in turn will contribute to the reduction of pediatric and maternal morbidity/ mortality and improve overall health services in the community. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed research will be relevant to public health because most of the research activities currently going on are mainly answering questions raised through Investigator - driven initiatives. This research will particularly bridge the gap between the academic and local communities especially in setting the research agenda in pediatric and maternal health questions. This will in the long term bring scientists to focus more on scientific questions which are priorities to the specific communities. Information gathered about the best communication strategies to link the academic and local communities will be extremely helpful in guiding the policy makers to channel the minimal available resources into more cost - effective strategies. The overall outcome of this research will greatly enhance the body of knowledge about interventions for reducing pediatric and maternal HIV by documentation of research priority areas in pediatric and maternal HIV prevention, as well as getting community input in identifying priority areas of research.