Amos Vanessa, LeBaron Virginia, Chuong Tuyet, Elmore Catherine E, Hamal Pawan Kumar, Paudel Bishnu D, Steen Amber, Chapagain Sandhya
University of Virginia School of Nursing, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America.
University of Utah College of Nursing, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2023 Oct 23;3(10):e0002481. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002481. eCollection 2023.
Equitable global health partnerships are essential to promote innovative research and strengthen research capacity to address critical public health challenges, but how to optimally evaluate such collaborations is unclear. This was a sequential, multi-method study that utilized an electronic survey informed by the literature followed by semi-structured interviews to comprehensively evaluate the experience of participating in a global research-capacity building collaboration between Nepal and U.S. clinicians and investigators. De-identified quantitative survey were analyzed to calculate descriptive and summary statistics, along with crosstabs of each variable by group. Groups were defined based on country-of-origin and Chi Square statistics calculated to assess for statistically significant differences (p<0.05) between groups. Interviews were analyzed using a descriptive qualitative approach to develop an overall thematic map. 22 survey responses (52.4% response rate) were analyzed; 13 (59.1%) from Nepal, 9 (40.9%) from the U.S. Eight participants (4 Nepal; 4 U.S.) were interviewed. Over the course of the project, all participants reported gaining experience and confidence with research. The majority of participants "strongly agreed" there was a shared understanding of goals, priorities and strategies (Nepal, 58.3%, n = 7; U.S., 88.9%, n = 8;) and that power was shared equally (Nepal, 58.3%, n = 7; U.S., 55.6%, n = 5). The over-arching theme that emerged from the interviews was the importance of 'establishing community' which participants discussed within the broader context of COVID-19. Overall, team members reported strong bi-directional benefit and a greater emphasis on perceived benefits versus challenges. Our survey tool and interview guide, designed to holistically evaluate the impact of a global partnership across various levels of the Social Ecological Model, with particular attention to power dynamics and equity, can be adapted and used by others engaged in similar research capacity collaborations.
公平的全球卫生伙伴关系对于促进创新性研究和加强应对重大公共卫生挑战的研究能力至关重要，但如何对这类合作进行最佳评估尚不清楚。这是一项采用多种方法的序列研究，先利用基于文献的电子调查，随后进行半结构化访谈，以全面评估参与尼泊尔与美国临床医生及研究人员之间全球研究能力建设合作的经历。对经过身份去识别处理的定量调查数据进行分析，以计算描述性统计量和汇总统计量，以及按组对每个变量进行的交叉表分析。根据原籍国定义组，并计算卡方统计量以评估组间的统计学显著差异（p<0.05）。采用描述性定性方法对访谈进行分析，以绘制总体主题图。分析了22份调查问卷回复（回复率为52.4%）；其中13份（59.1%）来自尼泊尔，9份（40.9%）来自美国。对8名参与者（4名尼泊尔人；4名美国人）进行了访谈。在项目过程中，所有参与者都报告说在研究方面获得了经验和信心。大多数参与者“强烈同意”对目标、优先事项和策略有共同理解（尼泊尔，58.3%，n = 7；美国，88.9%，n = 8），并且权力是平等分享的（尼泊尔，58.3%，n = 7；美国，55.6%，n = 5）。访谈中出现的首要主题是“建立社区”的重要性，参与者在新冠疫情的更广泛背景下讨论了这一点。总体而言，团队成员报告了强大的双向益处，并且更加强调感知到的益处而非挑战。我们设计的调查工具和访谈指南旨在全面评估全球伙伴关系在社会生态模型各个层面的影响，特别关注权力动态和公平性，可供其他参与类似研究能力合作的人员进行调整和使用。
