African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP), Nairobi, Kenya.
PLoS One. 2022 Mar 31;17(3):e0266106. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266106. eCollection 2022.
As one of the main knowledge producers, researchers can play an important role in contributing to efforts that bridge the gap between knowledge, policy and practice. However, for researchers to play this role, they need knowledge translation (KT) capacities that many typically lack. Furthermore, research has confirmed that little is known on KT training approaches for LMICs researchers and their effectiveness. This paper seeks to contribute to filling this knowledge gap on KT training approaches for LMIC researchers by assessing the effectiveness of a training and mentorship intervention to build African researchers' KT capacity. We conducted KT training and mentorship for 23 early and mid-career researchers from 20 universities in sub-Saharan Africa. This comprised a 5-day intense residential training workshop, followed by a 6-months mentorship. A pre- and post-training test was used to assess the immediate effect of the workshop. The intermediate effect of the training following a 6-month mentorship was assessed by the number of researchers who completed policy briefs during this period and those who participated in the webinar series conducted during this period. Overall, the aggregate average point change in the self-reported learning between the pre-training and the post-training survey was 1.9, which demonstrated the effectiveness of the training workshop. This was confirmed by a 33.7% increase in the aggregate average percentage of participants that responded correctly to questions assessing topics covered in the training between the pre-training and the post-training survey. During the mentorship period, 19 of the 23 researchers prepared and submitted complete drafts of their policy briefs within two months after the training. Fewer (4) researchers revised and submitted final policy briefs. More than half of the trained researchers participated in the webinars conducted in the first three months of the mentorship, whereas less than half of the researchers participated in the webinars conducted in the last three months. KT training and mentorship can be an effective intervention for addressing researchers' KT capacity gaps. For sustainability, KT training and mentorship need to be integrated in graduate training programmes in universities so that future LMIC researchers leave training institutions with the KT capacities they need for influencing policy and programme decisions and actions.
作为主要的知识生产者之一，研究人员可以在缩小知识、政策和实践之间差距的努力中发挥重要作用。然而，为了让研究人员发挥这一作用，他们需要具备许多人通常缺乏的知识转化（KT）能力。此外，研究证实，人们对中低收入国家研究人员的 KT 培训方法及其有效性知之甚少。本文旨在通过评估一项培训和指导干预措施，以建立非洲研究人员的 KT 能力，来填补中低收入国家研究人员的 KT 培训方法方面的知识空白。我们对来自撒哈拉以南非洲 20 所大学的 23 名早期和中期职业研究人员进行了 KT 培训和指导。这包括为期 5 天的强化住宿培训研讨会，随后进行 6 个月的指导。在培训前后进行了测试，以评估研讨会的即时效果。在 6 个月的指导后，通过在此期间完成政策简报的研究人员数量以及在此期间参加网络研讨会系列的研究人员数量，评估培训的中期效果。总体而言，自我报告的学习在培训前后调查中的平均总得分变化为 1.9，这表明培训研讨会是有效的。这一点得到了确认，即培训前后调查中，对涵盖培训内容的问题回答正确的参与者的平均百分比增加了 33.7%。在指导期间，23 名研究人员中有 19 名在培训后两个月内编写并提交了政策简报的完整草稿。只有 4 名研究人员修改并提交了最终政策简报。在接受培训的研究人员中，有一半以上参加了指导的前三个月举办的网络研讨会，而参加指导的后三个月举办的网络研讨会的研究人员不到一半。KT 培训和指导可以是解决研究人员 KT 能力差距的有效干预措施。为了可持续性，KT 培训和指导需要纳入大学的研究生培训计划，以便未来的中低收入国家研究人员离开培训机构时，具备影响政策和方案决策和行动所需的 KT 能力。
