What are key principles related to research capacity building?

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Key Points

• Research capacity building (RCB) is the process by which institutions, and the individuals who work within them, improve their ability to develop, implement, and sustain high-quality research efforts which can be translated into practice in order to improve outcomes.
• RCB is particularly needed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and in other contexts where there are fewer resources in terms of funding, tools, and skills.
• Research capacity building is also sometimes called capacity strengthening or capacity development.
• This virtual library intends to provide RCB resources that are particularly relevant to human health-related research, based in hospital, clinic, or community settings.

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Helpful Links, Videos and Online Courses

Overview

• ESSENCE on Health Research has prepared three “good practice documents” that provide an overview of RCB:
  • Planning, monitoring, and evaluation framework for capacity strengthening in health research (Revised in 2016)
  • Five keys to improving research costing in low- and middle-income countries (Revised in 2020)
  • Seven principles for strengthening research capacity in low- and middle-income countries: Simple ideas in a complex world (2014)

Videos

• Strengthening clinical research capacity in LMICs
  • The Academy of Medical Science and InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) for Health produced this 2:30 minute video which provides a brief overview of the topic and summarizes 7 key recommendations for RCB in LMICs. A detailed report of the workshop mentioned in this video, which was published by the United Kingdom-based Academy of Medical Sciences and IAP can be downloaded from this link.

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Relevant Publications

• Franzen, S.R.P., Chandler, C., & Lang, T. (2017).Health research capacity development in low and middle-income countries: Reality or rhetoric? A systematic meta-narrative review of the qualitative literature. BMJ Open, 7, e012332

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Other case examples of research capacity building efforts.

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Relevant Publications

• Towards diaspora-driven research capacity strengthening in low- and middle-income countries: Results from India and Nepal.
  • This paper describes a research capacity-building program curriculum developed by diaspora physicians and delivered at universities in India and Nepal. The curriculum was developed at Johns Hopkins University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the United States. The program curriculum is available as Supplemental Digital Appendix.
• Strategies for developing sustainable health research capacity in low and middle-income countries: A prospective, qualitative study investigating the barriers and enablers to locally-led clinical trial conduct in Ethiopia, Cameroon, and Sri Lanka.
  • This study’s aims included identifying barriers and enablers to locally-led clinical trials in three countries.
• A training programme to build cancer research capacity in low- and middle-income countries: findings from Guatemala
  • This is an example of building capacity for oncology-related research.

An example of a research-capacity building partnership between the Nepalese Association of Palliative Care and the University of Virginia.

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History of the Collaboration

The NAPCare – UVA research collaboration evolved from initial partnerships that began in 2004 with the International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research. Since that time, palliative care development and capacity have significantly advanced within Nepal which laid the groundwork for the National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center grant which helped fund this research.

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Outcomes to Date

During this initial exploratory grant, our interdisciplinary, global team of investigators from Nepal and UVA:

• Co-created, conducted, and analyzed a comprehensive survey of palliative care/oncology nurses and physicians at four diverse cancer sites that assessed: a) knowledge, beliefs, and perceived barriers to cancer pain management at the individual, intrapersonal, institutional, and country/cultural levels; b) awareness and use of the NAPCare PMG; c) smartphone use and barriers; and d) desired features and outcome metrics for a NAPCare Pain Management Guidelines (PMG) mobile health (mHealth)  app.
  
• Built and iterated a beta version of the ‘NAPCare PMG mobile health app’ through extensive in-country fieldwork and remote virtual meetings and focus groups. Of note, our beta app focuses on adults with cancer. This was an intentional decision based on: 1) input from Nepal partners as to what would be most useful to healthcare providers; 2) the larger proportion of adults in Nepal with cancer compared to children; 3) the primary expertise of our clinical team and patient populations seen at our study sites; and 4) to be consistent with the scope of our exploratory work.
  
• Pilot tested the NAPCare PMG mobile app with oncology healthcare providers at four diverse cancer care centers using simulated patient case scenarios developed by the Nepal team and surveyed app users to assess acceptability and gather feedback for further app development.
  
• Engaged in research capacity building activities through in-person and virtual workshops and mentorship meetings that focused on: survey development, data collection, data analysis, mobile app design, and pilot testing, dissemination of findings, grant and project management, testing of beta versions of the mobile app, and the creation of our Virtual Library of open-access, web-based research resources relevant for investigators in low and middle-income countries

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Future Directions

• Continue to revise, update and expand the Virtual Library.

• Secure funding support to continue to develop, disseminate and test the NAPCare PMG app.
  
• Continue research capacity support between UVA – Nepal team members through virtual mentorship.

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