Saxena Deepak, Trivedi Poonam, Bhatt Ruchi, Yasobant Sandul, Bhavsar Priya, Kansara Khushi, Memon Farjana, Mavalankar Dileep
Department of Public Health Science, Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar (IIPHG), Gandhinagar 382042, India.
School of Epidemiology & Public Health, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences (DMIMS), Wardha 442004, India.
Dialogues Health. 2022 May 30;1:100020. doi: 10.1016/j.dialog.2022.100020. eCollection 2022 Dec.
Well-planned health research is fundamental to the success of any public health system in leading to better population health outcomes. Although the Indian public health system is unique, it lacks strong linkages between research and practice. There is a pressing need to address the gap in the research to reduce the disease burden in the country. Although various efforts are made to enhance public health research, such research is rarely documented as a process. The objective of the present paper is to document issues and challenges in managing public health research grants awarded to the PHRI fellows from 2013-to 2021 under the PHRI project.
A mixed-method approach, including qualitative (in-depth) interviews and secondary review, was adopted to collect the challenges in executing PHRI grants (during 2013-2021). The in-depth interviews were conducted among the PHRI execution team, whereas the secondary document review was conducted among the PHRI fellows, and the findings are documented under major themes like administrative, technical, and financial issues and/or challenges.
A total of 35 candidates 16 intramural (IM) candidates affiliated with PHFI or IIPH institutes and 19 extramural (EM) candidates affiliated to other academic institutes were selected for the fellowship, The common challenges identified amongst intra & extramural fellows were inability to disseminate the study findings, challenges in communication and getting audited statements, changes in study methods without prior permission, mid study attrition of CO-PIs and high budget utilization. The specific difficulties identified from extramural fellows were change in institute affiliation, lack of support to fund utilization from the parent institute and difficulties in field validation.
The present perspective emphasizes that the management and implementation of a research grant is the crucial part of achieving a project's desired outcome. The learnings of PHRI grant execution allows the researchers to understand the issues in terms of methodological rigour and financial guidelines, rigorous tracking of the project activities, and complying with the terms of funding agreement are crucial. The challenges explored in this grant execution recommend developing a structured public health grant management leadership program for researchers and executors.
精心规划的健康研究对于任何公共卫生系统取得成功、改善人群健康结果而言至关重要。尽管印度公共卫生系统独具特色，但研究与实践之间缺乏紧密联系。迫切需要弥合研究差距以减轻该国的疾病负担。尽管已做出各种努力来加强公共卫生研究，但此类研究很少作为一个过程记录下来。本文的目的是记录2013年至2021年期间在公共卫生研究机构（PHRI）项目下授予PHRI研究员的公共卫生研究资助管理中的问题与挑战。
采用混合方法，包括定性（深入）访谈和二手资料审查，以收集执行PHRI资助（2013 - 2021年期间）中的挑战。在PHRI执行团队中进行深入访谈，而在PHRI研究员中进行二手文件审查，研究结果记录在行政、技术和财务问题及/或挑战等主要主题下。
共有35名候选人入选该奖学金项目，其中16名是隶属于PHFI或IIPH机构的校内（IM）候选人，19名是隶属于其他学术机构的校外（EM）候选人。校内和校外研究员共同面临的挑战包括无法传播研究结果、沟通和获取审计报表方面的挑战、未经事先许可改变研究方法、共同首席研究员在研究中期退出以及高预算使用率。校外研究员面临的具体困难包括机构隶属关系变更、母机构对资金使用缺乏支持以及实地验证困难。
当前观点强调，研究资助的管理和实施是实现项目预期成果的关键部分。PHRI资助执行的经验教训使研究人员明白，在方法严谨性和财务准则、严格跟踪项目活动以及遵守资助协议条款方面的问题至关重要。本次资助执行中探讨的挑战建议为研究人员和执行者制定一个结构化的公共卫生资助管理领导力项目。
