Moving from helicopter research to proximity research and capacity building.

Health funding agencies are increasingly prioritizing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) strategies. This shift, while essential, can inadvertently lead to 'helicopter research', especially among junior researchers, due to insufficient institutional support. We warn against such unethical practices and propose strategies for academia and funding bodies to address them.

Strengthening nutrition policy and service delivery: Lessons learned from a six-country assessment of Alive and Thrive's technical assistance.

Alive & Thrive (A&T) provides strategic technical assistance (TA) to develop effective policies; improve maternal, infant, and young child nutrition (MIYCN) programme design and implementation and enhance system capacity to sustain quality MIYCN service delivery at scale. A qualitative assessment was conducted using document review and stakeholder interviews (n = 79) to describe a selection of A&T's TA in six countries and systematically assess the contextual and TA process-related factors that influenced the results achieved and document the lessons learned about MIYCN TA design and implementation. To facilitate the selection of different types of TA, we classified TA into two levels of stakeholder engagement and intensity. Under the Technical Advisor TA category, we assessed A&T's support to strengthen national policy formulation, monitoring, and implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. For Capacity Development TA, we assessed A&T support to scale-up maternal nutrition services and to increase strategic use of data. Factors important for TA provision included identifying and engaging with the right people, using evidence to support advocacy and decision-making, using multiple ways to strengthen capacity, developing packages of tools to support programme scale-up, and reinforcing feedback mechanisms to improve service provision and data quality. Challenges included shifts in the political context, poorly functioning health systems, and limited resources to replicate or sustain the progress made. Continued investment in evidence-based and practical TA that strengthens the institutionalization of nutrition across all stakeholders-including government, medical associations, civil society and development partners-is essential. Future TA must support governments to strengthen system capacity for nutrition, including financial and human resource gaps that hamper full scale-up.

Disaster management training for environmental health: A narrative literature review.

The growing frequency and severity of disasters worldwide have highlighted the need for environmental health practitioners to be equipped with specialised training to respond effectively to evolving public health contexts. Disasters can have long-lasting impacts on the environment and environmental health services, necessitating prompt and effective responses. However, the current environmental health workforce faces challenges in acquiring the necessary competencies to address environmental health threats during disasters. This narrative review synthesises existing literature on disaster management education for environmental health professionals, exploring current training, advancements and emerging trends. The review follows Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines and includes a total of 45 records that met inclusion criteria (compromising 15 peer-reviewed articles and 30 training records) published between 2002 and 2023. Findings highlight the expansion of environmental health degree programmes to include disaster management, better preparing newly qualified practitioners. However, a knowledge gap remains for previously qualified practitioners. High-income countries prioritising capacity building for environmental health practitioners in disaster management are better equipped to respond to and mitigate disasters. Contribution: The review suggests that with proper basic training for disaster responders, more lives can be saved during and after disasters. It highlights the insufficiency of current training programmes and emphasises the need for advanced role-specific training for environmental health practitioners. The review emphasises the need for advanced role-specific training, community assessment skills and focused disaster response strategies to enhance environmental health practitioners' ability to respond to disasters and improve public health resilience. Enhanced training, capacity building and collaboration are necessary to improve the competencies, skills and knowledge of environmental health practitioners in disaster risk management and public health emergencies.

Moving forward: scaling-up the integration of an HIV and hypertension program in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

As people living with HIV experience increased life expectancy, there is a growing concern about the burden of comorbid non-communicable diseases, particularly hypertension. This brief describes the current policy landscape on the management of HIV and hypertension in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, stakeholder engagement meetings, and the resulting five policy recommendations rooted in an ongoing research study designed to integrate hypertension management into HIV care across primary health centers in the State. In order to identify the current gaps in integrated care, discussion sessions with three stakeholder groups (i.e., healthcare providers, patient advocacy groups, and policy makers) were held separately in November 2022. The discussions were purposed to brainstorm policy-level solutions for integrating hypertension into HIV treatment. After all the sessions were concluded, there were five recommendations provided by the stakeholders for integrating HIV and hypertension care in the Akwa Ibom State. Stakeholders unanimously agreed with the need to integrate hypertension care for HIV impacted communities in the State. Specifically, stakeholders recommended to: (1) engage retired community health nurses as mentors; (2) actively link communities to integrated care in clinics; (3) integrate hypertension management with HIV education; (4) expand health insurance accessibility; and (5) formally integrate hypertension management into primary healthcare centers in Akwa Ibom State.

Survey of Students and Alumni of Clinical Epidemiology Graduate Programs in the Philippines: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study of Program Strengths and Weaknesses.

Background and Objectives: The Department of Clinical Epidemiology (DCE) of the University of the Philippines Manila is the only higher education institution in the Philippines offering graduate studies in clinical epidemiology. The Master of Science Epidemiology (Clinical Epidemiology) was first offered in 1992, while the Diploma in Epidemiology (Clinical Epidemiology) was offered in 1998. While the courses of the programs are continuously updated based on students' feedback and advances on topics covered, the point of view of the students and alumni on the program as a whole has not been done. This study aimed to determine 1) self-reported current positions and affiliations, work areas where clinical epidemiology (CE) training is useful, and skills gained from CE training; 2) research studies completed and deemed by respondents to have considerable impact; and 3) strengths, weaknesses, and areas of improvement of the DCE graduate programs. Methods: This is an online survey of students and alumni of the DCE graduate programs. We sent email invites to all 287 students and alumni. We collected data on their profession, institutional affiliations, positions, skills gained from their training, areas of clinical epidemiology applications, important research involvement, reasons for recommending or not recommending the programs, and how the graduate programs can be improved. Responses were summarized by frequencies and percentages. An analyst performed qualitative content analysis (QCA) to generate strengths and weaknesses of the program. We validated the results of the QCA through 1) presentation to the research team, 2) sending the survey report to study participants and other students and alumni for feedback, and 3) presentation to the DCE faculty and staff. Results: We received 159 responses (55.4% of the total study population)-145 (91.2%) were from the MSc program and 11 (6.9%) were from the Diploma program. Majority of the respondents were physicians (93.7%), had hospital affiliations (81.8%), and were affiliated with the academe (61%). Majority of the respondents used clinical epidemiology in their research endeavors (87.4%), clinical practice (85.5%), and teaching (78%). Majority (93.1%) would recommend the program they have taken. Eleven (6.9%) respondents were hesitant due to the possible mismatch with the students' career path, challenging thesis work, and potential conflicting personal responsibilities. Several strengths of the programs were identified, including excellent and well-implemented programs, supportive faculty and staff, and relevant course work. While completing the course work had not been a problem in general, the main challenge encountered by students is the completion of their thesis, leading to a low graduation rate in the Master of Science program. Suggestions to improve the Master of Science and Diploma programs include 1) Improvement in program implementation, including thesis policies and support, smoother transition from Diploma to MSc Program and vice-versa, and implementation of a blended learning platform; 2) Curricular improvements such as wider choices for electives and tracking towards specialty areas; 3) Innovations in conduct of courses; and 4) Personnel and infrastructure development. Conclusions: This survey reiterated the importance of clinical epidemiology graduate programs in research capacity building of health care professionals. Students and alumni occupied diverse positions in academic, research, clinical, and pharmaceutical setting, and majority accomplished research studies with considerable impact. A major challenge leading to a low graduation rate in the Master of Science program is the completion of thesis work. The survey identified several initiatives towards continuous quality improvement of clinical epidemiology programs, including improvement of thesis policies and support, updating the curriculum content and materials, increasing allotment of hours for hands-on activities, exploring possibilities of offering electives in partnership with other institutions, offering a blended learning platform, maintaining an efficient administrative support for students, and continuing education for alumni. Strong institutional support for personnel and infrastructure development is essential for these initiatives to succeed.

Effect of web-based training on public health nurses' program implementation capacity: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Health service development aims to close the gap between evidence and practice by adopting and appropriately utilizing the latest findings. To address this gap, dissemination and implementation research has been promoted and developed. Despite promoting evidence-based programs over the years, public health nurses have had few training opportunities in evidence-based public health. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a web-based training in building the basic program implementation capacity of public health nurses with two to five years of experience. METHODS: We developed a simulation-powered web-based training according to an Implementation Degree Assessment Sheet for health programs. This was a randomized, single-blind, parallel-group trial. The primary outcome, the result of implementation capacity for public health nurses, was assessed by the total score of the Implementation Degree Assessment Sheet, and scores for its five domains. The secondary outcome was evaluated by the level of understanding. The primary outcome was analyzed utilizing the t-test and analysis of covariance, whereas the secondary outcome was assessed utilizing the U-test and Quade's analysis of covariance. Data were collected directly before intervention (T1: baseline), immediately post-intervention (T2), and four weeks post-intervention (T3: endpoint). RESULTS: The 197 participants were randomly allocated to either the intervention group (n = 98) or the control group (n = 99). A full analysis set of 152 samples and a per-protocol set of 104 samples were analyzed. The intervention group exhibited a significantly higher total score and five domain-wise scores at the endpoint compared with the control group. The disparity between the endpoint and baseline scores was significantly larger for the intervention group for all scores. The level of understanding was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group at T2 and T3. The effect size of the total score was higher in the full analysis set (Cohen's d = 0.5) than in the per-protocol set (d = 0.48). CONCLUSIONS: This web-based training was effective in building the program implementation capacity of participants four weeks post-intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: University Hospital Medical Information Network Center Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000048421.

The Wildlife Malaria Research network (WIMANET): Meeting report on the 1st WIMANET workshop.

The Wildlife Malaria Network (WIMANET) is a groundbreaking multinational collaboration focused on studying vector-borne haemosporidian parasites in wildlife. Unlike human malaria, wildlife malaria is found on all continents except Antarctica, with parasites being transmitted by a range of vectors. The complexity and diversity of these parasites makes it necessary to have an interdisciplinary approach to understand and mitigate their impacts. Established in 2023 within the framework of COST-Action (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), WIMANET unites researchers from diverse scientific backgrounds to tackle critical questions about wildlife malaria on a global scale. This meeting report summarises the activities and plans resulting from the 1st meeting of WIMANET's six working groups, spanning the genetic and morphological identification of parasites to understanding the drivers of host-parasite-vector associations from individual to community levels. WIMANET's collaborative efforts aim to fill the knowledge gaps and foster large-scale research initiatives transcending local and regional boundaries.

A longitudinal mixed methods evaluation of a facilitation training intervention to build implementation capacity.

Background: There is a demand for facilitators who can ease the collaboration within a team or an organization in the implementation of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) and who are positioned to build the implementation capacity in an organization. This study aimed to evaluate the results the Building implementation capacity for facilitation (BIC-F) intervention had on the participants' perceived knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy to facilitate implementation and the normalization of a systematic implementation model into their work routines, and its use into their respective organizations. Methods: The BIC-F intervention was delivered to 37 facilitators in six workshops, which focused on teaching participants to apply a systematic implementation model and various facilitation tools and strategies. A longitudinal mixed methods design was used to evaluate the intervention. Data was collected pre- and post-intervention using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews grounded on the Normalization Process Theory (NPT). Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive (mean, SD) and inferential (paired t-tests) methods. Qualitative data were analyzed using deductive content analysis according to NPT. Results: An increase in the participants' perceived knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy was observed post-intervention. Normalization of the systematic implementation model in the participants' work routines was in an early phase, facilitated by high coherence, however, other NPT mechanisms were not sufficiently activated yet to contribute to full normalization. In the organizations where participants initiated the normalization process, they were still working towards achieving coherence and cognitive participation among relevant stakeholders. Conclusion: The intervention had positive results on the participants' perceived knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy and these recognized the value of a systematic implementation model for their practice. However, further efforts are needed to apply it consistently as a part of their work routines and in the organization. Future interventions should provide long-term support for facilitators, and include methods to transfer training between organizational levels and to overcome contextual barriers.

Community partner coauthorship for increased implementation science impact: Strengthening capacity and engagement.

Engaging diverse partners in each phase of the research process is the gold standard of community-engaged research and adds value to the impact of implementation science. However, partner engagement in dissemination, particularly meaningful involvement in developing peer-reviewed manuscripts, is lacking. The Implementation Science Centers in Cancer Control are using the Translational Science Benefits Model to demonstrate the impact of our work beyond traditional metrics, including building capacity and promoting community engagement. This paper presents a case example of one center that has developed a policy for including community partners as coauthors. Standard practices are used to foster clear communications and bidirectional collaboration. Of published papers focused on center infrastructure and implementation research pilots, 92% have community partner coauthors. This includes 21 individuals in roles ranging from physician assistant to medical director to quality manager. Through this intentional experience of co-creation, community partners have strengthened implementation science expertise. Community coauthors have also ensured that data interpretation and dissemination reflect real-world practice environments and offer sustainable strategies for rapid translation to practice improvements. Funders, academic journals, and researchers all have important roles to play in supporting community coauthors as critical thought partners who can help to narrow the gap between research and practice.