Health Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
BMC Public Health. 2024 May 27;24(1):1418. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-18934-8.
The Global Evidence, Local Adaptation (GELA) project aims to maximise the impact of research on poverty-related diseases by increasing researchers' and decision-makers' capacity to use global research to develop locally relevant guidelines for newborn and child health in Malawi, Nigeria and South Africa. To facilitate ongoing collaboration with stakeholders, we adopted an Integrated Knowledge Translation (IKT) approach within GELA. Given limited research on IKT in African settings, we documented our team's IKT capacity and skills, and process and experiences with developing and implementing IKT in these countries.
Six IKT champions and a coordinator formed the GELA IKT Working Group. We gathered data on our baseline IKT competencies and processes within GELA, and opportunities, challenges and lessons learned, from April 2022 to March 2023 (Year 1). Data was collected from five two-hour Working Group meetings (notes, presentation slides and video recordings); [2] process documents (flowcharts and templates); and [3] an open-ended questionnaire. Data was analysed using a thematic analysis approach.
Three overarching themes were identified: [1] IKT approach applied within GELA [2], the capacity and motivations of IKT champions, and [3] the experiences with applying the GELA IKT approach in the three countries. IKT champions and country teams adopted an iterative approach to carry out a comprehensive mapping of stakeholders, determine stakeholders' level of interest in and influence on GELA using the Power-Interest Matrix, and identify realistic indicators for monitoring the country-specific strategies. IKT champions displayed varying capacities, strong motivation, and they engaged in skills development activities. Country teams leveraged existing relationships with their National Ministries of Health to drive responses and participation by other stakeholders, and adopted variable communication modes (e.g. email, phone calls, social media) for optimal engagement. Flexibility in managing competing interests and priorities ensured optimal participation by stakeholders, although the time and resources required by IKT champions were frequently underestimated.
The intentional, systematic, and contextualized IKT approach carried out in the three African countries within GELA, provides important insights for enhancing the implementation, feasibility and effectiveness of other IKT initiatives in Africa and similar low- and middle-income country (LMIC) settings.
全球证据、地方适应（GELA）项目旨在通过提高研究人员和决策者利用全球研究为马拉维、尼日利亚和南非制定与新生儿和儿童健康相关的本地指南的能力，最大限度地提高与贫困相关疾病的研究的影响。为了促进与利益相关者的持续合作，我们在 GELA 中采用了综合知识转化（IKT）方法。鉴于非洲环境中关于 IKT 的研究有限，我们记录了我们团队的 IKT 能力和技能，以及在这些国家制定和实施 IKT 的过程和经验。
六名 IKT 冠军和一名协调员组成了 GELA IKT 工作组。我们从 2022 年 4 月到 2023 年 3 月（第 1 年）收集了有关我们在 GELA 中的 IKT 能力和流程以及在这些国家实施 IKT 的机会、挑战和经验教训的数据。数据来自五次两小时的工作组会议（笔记、演示幻灯片和视频记录）；[2]流程文件（流程图和模板）；和[3]一份开放式问卷。使用主题分析方法对数据进行分析。
确定了三个总体主题：[1]GELA 中应用的 IKT 方法；[2]IKT 冠军的能力和动机；和[3]在三个国家应用 GELA IKT 方法的经验。IKT 冠军和国家团队采用迭代方法，对利益相关者进行全面映射，使用权力-利益矩阵确定利益相关者对 GELA 的兴趣和影响程度，并确定监测国家特定战略的现实指标。IKT 冠军表现出不同的能力、强烈的动机，并参与了技能发展活动。国家团队利用与国家卫生部的现有关系，推动其他利益相关者的回应和参与，并采用不同的沟通模式（例如电子邮件、电话、社交媒体）以实现最佳参与。管理竞争利益和优先事项的灵活性确保了利益相关者的最佳参与，尽管 IKT 冠军所需的时间和资源经常被低估。
在 GELA 中在三个非洲国家内进行的有意、系统和有针对性的 IKT 方法为在非洲和类似的低收入和中等收入国家（LMIC）环境中加强 IKT 倡议的实施、可行性和有效性提供了重要见解。
