Departament of Public Health, School of Medicine, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Carrera 32 29-31 Of. 301, Bucaramanga 680002, Colombia.
School of Social Work, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Carrera 27 Calle 9 Ciudad Universitaria, Bucaramanga 680002, Colombia.
Health Policy Plan. 2023 Jun 16;38(6):726-736. doi: 10.1093/heapol/czad027.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of strengthening collaborations between academia and government. The development and maintenance of these collaborative relationships is a complex and dynamic process, particularly during public health emergencies. This study was aimed at identifying and analysing factors that acted as barriers and facilitators in the collaboration process between academia and government during the COVID-19 pandemic in the five largest cities in Colombia. The study used a qualitative approach based on the systematization of experiences. A total of 25 semi-structured interviews were conducted with local actors from government and academia during 2021. Participants identified a variety of situations that involved individual, institutional and relational factors that acted as barriers and facilitators, and which have been previously reported in other countries and contexts not related to pandemics. Based on participant reports, two additional factors emerged, one corresponding to situations related to the pandemic management process itself and another related to structural or systemic conditions that involved government processes and the Colombian health system. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the health emergency brought about shared feelings of local commitment and a willingness to work through interdisciplinary teams to address the pandemic with the least adverse effects on the community. Other facilitators of the collaborative process that were recognized were the importance of timely access to data and transparent analyses, as well as government decisions being informed by the perspectives of academics. The main barriers identified by both actors were excessive centralization of the pandemic's management and the need for rapid decision-making processes under high levels of uncertainty. In addition, the fragmentation of services in the health system posed a barrier to the interventions that were suggested by the collaborative work. Our results suggest that government-academia collaborations should be implemented as ongoing participatory processes integrating various sectors, actors and disciplines.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，加强学术界和政府之间的合作显得尤为重要。建立和维护这些合作关系是一个复杂而动态的过程，特别是在公共卫生紧急情况下。本研究旨在确定和分析在 COVID-19 大流行期间，哥伦比亚五个最大城市的学术界和政府之间合作过程中的障碍和促进因素。该研究采用了基于经验系统化的定性方法。2021 年期间，共对政府和学术界的当地参与者进行了 25 次半结构化访谈。参与者确定了各种涉及个人、机构和关系因素的情况，这些因素既是障碍也是促进因素，而这些因素在其他国家和与大流行无关的背景下也有报道。根据参与者的报告，又出现了两个额外的因素，一个与大流行管理过程本身有关，另一个与涉及政府流程和哥伦比亚卫生系统的结构性或系统性条件有关。尽管大流行带来了挑战，但卫生应急引起了当地的共同承诺，并愿意通过跨学科团队共同应对大流行，将对社区的不利影响降到最低。参与者还认识到合作过程的其他促进因素是及时获取数据和透明分析的重要性，以及政府决策应考虑到学术界的观点。双方确定的主要障碍是大流行管理的过度集中化以及在高度不确定性下需要快速决策过程。此外，卫生系统服务的碎片化对合作工作提出的干预措施构成了障碍。我们的研究结果表明，政府-学术界的合作应该作为一个持续的参与性过程来实施，整合各个部门、参与者和学科。
