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Introduction Asahikawa Medical University (AMU) has conducted a 7-week JICA training course “Health Systems Management for Regional and District Health Management Officers” since 2008 and trained a total of 132 participants from 22 countries. In order to assess how trainees applied their public health knowledge and skills obtained through the training course to their communities, we conducted interviews in Kenya, Malawi, and Liberia to explore their current public health problems and to identify what programs are required for our further training course to improve their health system.Methods Among 29 trainees in three countries in total, 15 were face-to-face interviewed and 6 were phone-interviewed on February 2019. The rest was missing but we identified five of their current position.Results The trainees made best use of knowledge and skills obtained from following lectures and/or field trips in their communities, such as “Project Cycle Management”, “Maternal and child health”, “Public health centers’ visit”, “Waste management including water supply and sewage treatment”, “School health”, “Tele-medicine”, and “5S-KAIZEN”. They also requested us to provide following lectures and field visits to tackle with their future health problems, such as “Japan’s experience to achieve the Universal Health Coverage”, “Health system strengthening”, “Disaster medicine and management”, “Non-communicable diseases”, and “Capacity development”.Discussion & Conclusions By face-to-face or phone interviews in three countries, we grasped ideas of current health problems and verified an effectiveness of our training programs in each country. We also helped the trainees, their co-workers, community people (volunteers) to increase the motivation of their relevant works and activities through the field visit. Therefore, in order to provide a better training program, we further need to enhance international cooperation between us and African countries as well as to strengthen our training capacities including regular follow-up systems to ex-trainees.
RÉSUMÉ
OBJETIVO: La capacidad de los gestores de servicios de salud para utilizar la investigación en salud es una habilidad fundamental para su desempeño. Se describe y analiza dicha habilidad en relación con cuatro componentes: adquisición del conocimiento, análisis de su calidad y pertinencia, adaptación a las necesidades del proceso de gestión y aplicación en el contexto de la planeación estratégica y la toma de decisiones. Se describen y analizan asimismo las propuestas para fortalecer la capacidad. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Se aplicaron una herramienta de autodiagnóstico y una guía de discusión, sometidas para su autorización a la Comisión de Ética del Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública antes de su aplicación. El trabajo se llevó a cabo durante los meses de abril a noviembre del año 2007 en 122 equipos de gestión en unidades locales de servicio y programación (84.4 por ciento de tasa de respuesta) de instituciones públicas y privadas no lucrativas, en seis entidades contrastantes y representativas de México. RESULTADOS: Se observó un gradiente en la capacidad de utilización entre las entidades. La adquisición del conocimiento es inversamente proporcional al índice de desarrollo humano (IDH). No se detectaron diferencias significativas entre instituciones públicas ni entre el sector público y el privado. La principal necesidad detectada de fortalecimiento radica en la adquisición de investigación. La principal prioridad percibida consiste en incrementar la calificación del personal en investigación en salud. Las entidades con menor IDH tienen necesidades más inmediatas de fortalecimiento. Las medidas de fortalecimiento propuestas a través de los estados varían de acuerdo con su IDH y la sensibilización sobre las bondades de la investigación entre tomadores de decisión es la de mayor mención en las entidades con menor IDH. CONCLUSIONES: Debe impulsarse el autodiagnóstico de la capacidad en las unidades de servicio y programas institucionales...
OBJECTIVE: The perceived capacity of health management teams to utilize research for decision making is assessed, as well as proposals for strengthening such capacity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 103 management teams (84.4 percent response rate) from a wide range of institutions in six contrasting and representative states in Mexico were asked to assess their perceived capacity for utilizing research and to propose strategies to strengthen that capacity. Qualitative and statistical techniques were used from April to November 2007, after approval by the Mexico National Institute of Public Health (INSP) Ethics Commission. RESULTS: Significant differences across states were found. Only the acquisition of knowledge is significantly correlated with the human development index. The acquisition of research is identified as the priority for strengthening capacity, through increasing the qualifications of personnel in public health research. States with a lower human development index have more immediate needs for strengthening capacity. Proposals for strengthening capacity also depend on whether decision makers are aware of the importance of research. CONCLUSIONS: The use of self-assessment should be encouraged at the state and institutional levels. Different strategies should be used to address differences among states.