Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Disease, Yale School of Public Health, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar St, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
Health Promot Int. 2021 Aug 30;36(4):1198-1208. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daaa105.
Multi-sectoral collaborative approaches with strong community engagement are essential for addressing health disparities. A valid tool for assessing organizational research and capacity for community health research stakeholders could help strengthen organizational capacity for engagement in such collaborations. This study was conducted to validate an innovative tool for assessing research activity and capacity of a spectrum of stakeholder organizations to provide support for strengthening community health research capacity in Bhutan. In-person interviews with academics (n = 10), clinicians (n = 10), government staff (n = 10), consultants (n = 2) and management of health-related civil society organizations (CSOs; n = 12 interviews/organizations, 13 individuals) were recorded and transcribed. Questions covered individual and organizational research activity and capacity, research networks and an international version of the Community Research Assessment Tool (CREAT-I). Almost all participants (84%) had participated in community health research projects. Social network analysis showed a large, interconnected cluster with a few key individuals linking across sectors. CREAT-I responses identified the highest capacity in organizational support for research among academic participants, while clinical and CSO participants reported highest capacity in practical research experiences and government participants reported highest capacity in research specific experiences. The CREAT-I tool showed strong internal reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.91) and validity. Limited money, time and skilled staff were identified as barriers to research. The CREAT-I assesses community health research capacity of organizations, and such a tool could be useful in identifying research capacity needs, monitoring impact of research capacity-building activities and contributing to a greater capacity for multi-sectoral collaborative approaches to community health research in international settings.
多部门协作并加强社区参与对于解决健康差异至关重要。一种有效的评估社区卫生研究利益相关者组织研究和能力的工具，可以帮助加强参与此类合作的组织能力。本研究旨在验证一种评估利益相关者组织研究活动和能力的创新工具，以为不丹加强社区卫生研究能力提供支持。对学者（n=10）、临床医生（n=10）、政府工作人员（n=10）、顾问（n=2）和与卫生相关的民间社会组织（CSO；n=12 次访谈/组织，13 人）进行了面对面访谈并记录和转录。问题涵盖个人和组织的研究活动和能力、研究网络以及社区研究评估工具（CREAT-I）的国际版本。几乎所有参与者（84%）都参与了社区卫生研究项目。社会网络分析显示，有一个庞大的、相互关联的集群，少数关键人物在各个部门之间建立联系。CREAT-I 的回应表明，学术参与者在组织对研究的支持方面能力最高，而临床和 CSO 参与者在实际研究经验方面能力最高，政府参与者在研究特定经验方面能力最高。CREAT-I 工具显示出很强的内部可靠性（Cronbach's α=0.91）和有效性。研究资金有限、时间有限和熟练人员短缺被确定为研究的障碍。CREAT-I 评估组织的社区卫生研究能力，这种工具可用于确定研究能力需求、监测研究能力建设活动的影响，并有助于在国际环境中加强多部门合作方法对社区卫生研究的能力。
