The George Institute for Global Health, 308, Third Floor, Elegance Tower, Plot No. 8, Jasola District Centre, New Delhi 110025, India.
Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.
Health Policy Plan. 2023 Apr 11;38(4):571-578. doi: 10.1093/heapol/czad010.
Global health research reflects and can either perpetuate or challenge the complex power hierarchies and inequities that characterize our health systems and the societies in which they are situated. The imperative to embed equity in health research aligns with broader efforts globally to promote equitable partnerships among researchers, and between researchers and the communities potentially impacted by their research, or with whom knowledge is co-produced. We describe lessons learnt from piloting a heuristic and diagnostic tool for researchers to assess integration of equity considerations into their research practices. The '8Quity' tool comprises eight domains of equity we developed which roughly correspond to the typical stages in the research process-from team formation to capacity strengthening, research ethics and governance to relationships with research partners, participants and stakeholders beyond the project period. Resources that detail how this can be done on a practical level are also shared, corresponding to each of the eight domains. We acknowledge that tools like 8Quity may be helpful, even necessary, but are insufficient for the broader societal changes required to ensure equity in the research enterprise. However, by firmly setting intentions and accountabilities within our research practices, we (as researchers) can play a role, however modest, in turning the tide of the injustices that leave some communities behind.
全球卫生研究反映并可能加剧或挑战我们的卫生系统和所在社会的复杂权力等级和不平等现象。将公平性纳入卫生研究的必要性与全球范围内更广泛的努力一致，即促进研究人员之间以及研究人员与可能受其研究影响或与其共同产生知识的社区之间的公平伙伴关系。我们描述了从试点研究人员评估其研究实践中公平性考虑因素整合情况的启发式和诊断工具中吸取的经验教训。“8Quity”工具包括我们开发的八个公平领域，大致对应研究过程的典型阶段，从团队组建到能力建设，从研究伦理和治理到与项目期间之外的研究伙伴、参与者和利益相关者的关系。还分享了与八个领域相对应的详细说明如何在实践层面上实现这一目标的资源。我们承认，像 8Quity 这样的工具可能是有帮助的，甚至是必要的，但对于确保研究企业公平所需的更广泛的社会变革来说是不够的。然而，通过在我们的研究实践中坚定地设定意图和问责制，我们（作为研究人员）可以在扭转使一些社区落后的不公正现象的潮流中发挥微不足道的作用。
