Kombe Francis
KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya.
BMC Med Ethics. 2015 Nov 13;16(1):77. doi: 10.1186/s12910-015-0071-3.
The integrity of biomedical research depends heavily on the quality of research data collected. In turn, data quality depends on processes of data collection, a task undertaken by frontline research staff in many research programmes in Africa and elsewhere. These frontline research staff often have additional responsibilities including translating and communicating research in local languages, seeking informed consent for study participation and maintaining supportive relationships between research institutions and study participants and wider communities. The level of skills that fieldworkers need to undertake these responsibilities clearly affects the quality of data collected, the ethics of research 'on the ground' and the short and long term acceptability of research.We organised an international workshop in Kenya in July 2014 to discuss the role of frontline staff in scientific research. A total of 25 field managers from 9 African countries and the UK met for 2.5 days to discuss the relationship between data quality and institutional performance management systems and how they affect career progression and supportive supervision policies of research frontline staff.From this workshop, and supporting an expanding literature on the role of fieldworkers in international health research, participants agreed that fieldworkers' roles present them with practical and ethical challenges that their routine training does not adequately prepare them for. We argue that the common and complex challenges facing fieldworkers should in part be addressed through increased investment and collaborative agreements across types of research institutions in Africa. We call for standardization of core elements of training for this critically important cadre of research staff who perform similar roles and encounter similar challenges in many African settings. Although many valuable training elements are offered in institutions, there is a need to develop broader, more grounded and innovative strategies to address complex realities for fieldworkers, and support the integrity and ethics of health research in these settings.
生物医学研究的完整性在很大程度上取决于所收集研究数据的质量。反过来，数据质量又取决于数据收集过程，这一任务由非洲及其他地区许多研究项目中的一线研究人员承担。这些一线研究人员通常还有其他职责，包括用当地语言翻译和传达研究内容、寻求研究参与的知情同意，以及维持研究机构与研究参与者及更广泛社区之间的支持性关系。实地工作者承担这些职责所需的技能水平显然会影响所收集数据的质量、“实地”研究的伦理以及研究的短期和长期可接受性。
2014年7月，我们在肯尼亚组织了一次国际研讨会，以讨论一线工作人员在科学研究中的作用。来自9个非洲国家和英国的25名实地管理人员齐聚一堂，进行了为期2.5天的讨论，内容包括数据质量与机构绩效管理系统之间的关系，以及它们如何影响研究一线工作人员的职业发展和支持性监督政策。
通过这次研讨会，并结合关于实地工作者在国际卫生研究中作用的不断扩充文献，与会者一致认为，实地工作者的角色给他们带来了实际和伦理方面的挑战，而他们的常规培训并未充分使他们做好应对这些挑战的准备。我们认为，实地工作者面临的常见且复杂的挑战，部分应通过非洲各类研究机构增加投资和达成合作协议来解决。我们呼吁对这一至关重要的研究人员队伍的核心培训要素进行标准化，他们在许多非洲环境中扮演类似角色并面临类似挑战。尽管各机构提供了许多有价值的培训内容，但仍需制定更广泛、更有依据且更具创新性的策略，以应对实地工作者面临的复杂现实，并支持这些环境中卫生研究的完整性和伦理。
