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- Karimi, F., et al.
(författare)
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Resilience of research capacity strengthening initiatives in Africa during crises: the case of CARTA during COVID
- 2023
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Ingår i: Global health action. - 1654-9880 .- 1654-9880. ; 16:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Several research capacity strengthening (RCS) initiatives have been established in Africa over the past decade. One such initiative is the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) that has gained traction over the years and has been proven as an effective multidisciplinary approach to strengthen research capacity to address public and population health in Africa. Objectives: In this article, we document the experiences and management-related interventions that cushioned the CARTA programme and enabled it to remain resilient during the COVID pandemic. We further make recommendations on the enablers of resilience and optimal performance of such RCS initiatives during crises and beyond. Methods: We used routine information gathered by the CARTA secretariat from consortium correspondence, meeting minutes, reports and other related documents produced in the year 2020 in order to consolidate the experiences and interventions taken by the programme at programmatic, institutional and fellowship levels. Results: We identified a series of management-related cyclic phases that CARTA went through during the pandemic period, which included immobilisation, reflection, brainstorming, decision-making, intervening and recovery. We further identified strategic management-related interventions that contributed to the resilience of the programme during the pandemic including assessment and monitoring, communication management, policy and resource management, making investments and execution. Moreover, we observed that the strength of the leadership and management of CARTA, coupled with the consortium & PRIME;s culture of collaboration, mutual trust, respect, openness, transparency, equitability, ownership, commitment and accountability, all contributed to its success during the pandemic period. Conclusion: We conclude that RCS initiatives undergo a series of phases during crises and that they need to promptly adopt and adapt appropriate management-related strategic interventions in order to remain resilient during such periods. This can be significantly realised if RCS initiatives build a culture of trust, commitment and joint ownership, and if they invest in strong management capacity.
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| 2. |
- Katahoire, A. R., et al.
(författare)
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Transformed through the CARTA experience: changes reported by CARTA fellows about their PhD journey
- 2023
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Ingår i: Global Health Action. ; 16:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Transformative learning occurs when a person, group, or larger social unit encounters ideas that are at odds with their prevailing perspective. This discrepant perspective can lead to an examination of previously held beliefs, values, and assumptions. The Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) has since 2011 been training and supporting faculty from different African universities, to become more reflective and productive researchers, research leaders, educators, and change agents who will drive institutional changes in their institutions. As part of a mid-term evaluation of CARTA, an open-ended question was posed to the CARTA fellows asking them to describe any changes they had experienced in their professional lives as a result of the CARTA Programme. The 135 responses were inductively coded and analysed using qualitative thematic analysis. These themes were subsequently mapped onto Hoggan's typology of transformative learning outcomes. CARTA fellows reported shifts in their sense of self; worldviews; beliefs about the definition of knowledge, how it is constructed and evaluated; and changes in behaviour/practices and capacities. This paper argues that the changes described by the CARTA fellows reflect transformative learning that is embedded in CARTA's Theory of Change. The reported transformation was enabled by a curriculum intentionally designed to facilitate critical reflection, further exploration, and questioning, both formally and informally during the fellows' PhD journey with the support of CARTA facilitators. Documenting and disseminating these lessons provide a guide for future practice, and educators wishing to revitalise their PhD training may find it useful to review the CARTA PhD curriculum.
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| 3. |
- Nematswerani, N., et al.
(författare)
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Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare services for adults during three waves of COVID-19 infections: A South African private sector experience
- 2023
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Ingår i: SAMJ SOUTH AFRICAN MEDICAL JOURNAL. - 0256-9574 .- 2078-5135. ; 113:4, s. 1156-1164
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare resources have been repurposed to focus on COVID-19. Resource reallocation and restrictions to movement that affected general access to care may have inadvertently resulted in undue disruptions in the continuum of care for patients requiring non-COVID-19 healthcare services. Objectives. To describe the change in pattern of health service use in the South African (SA) private sector. Methods. We conducted a retrospective study of a nationwide cohort of privately insured individuals. An analysis of claims data was performed for non-COVID-19 related healthcare services provided from April 2020 to December 2020 (year 1 of COVID-19) and April 2021 to December 2021 (year 2 of COVID-19) relative to the same period in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in SA. Over and above plotting the monthly trends, we tested for statistical significance of the changes using a Wilcoxon test given the non-normality of all the outcomes. Results. Between April and December 2020, relative to the same period in 2021, and also relative to the same period in 2019, we found a 31.9% (p<0.01) and a 16.6% (p<0.01) reduction in emergency room visits, respectively; a 35.9% (p<0.01) and 20.5% (p<0.01) reduction in medical hospital admissions; a 27.4% (p=0.01) and 13.0% (p=0.03) reduction in surgical hospital admissions; a 14.5% (p<0.01) and 4.1% (p=0.16) reduction in face-to-face general practitioner consultations for chronic members; a 24.9% (p=0.06) and 5.2% (p=0.54) reduction in mammography for female members; a 23.4% (p=0.03) and 10.8% (p=0.09) reduction in Pap smear screenings for female members; a 16.5% (p=0.08) and 12.1% (p=0.27) reduction in colorectal cancer registrations and an 18.2% (p=0.08) and 8.9% (p=0.07) decrease in all oncology diagnoses. Uptake of telehealth services throughout the healthcare delivery system increased by 5 708% in 2020 compared with 2019, and 36.1% for 2021 compared with 2020. Conclusion. A significant reduction in emergency room visits, hospital admissions and utilisation of primary care services was observed since the start of the pandemic. Further research is required to understand if there are long-term consequences of delayed care. An increase in the use of digital consultations was observed. Research on their acceptability and effectiveness may open new modalities of care, which may have cost- and time-saving benefits.
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