Post-doctoral research fellowship as a health policy and systems research capacity development intervention: a case of the CHESAI initiative

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dc.contributor.authorLembani, Martina
dc.contributor.authorTeddy, Gina
dc.contributor.authorMolosiwa, Dintle
dc.contributor.authorHwabamungu, Boroto
dc.date.accessioned2018-07-06T08:26:54Z
dc.date.available2018-07-06T08:26:54Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND: Building capacity in health policy and systems research (HPSR), especially in low- and middle-income countries, remains a challenge. Various approaches have been suggested and implemented by scholars and institutions using various forms of capacity building to address challenges regarding HPSR development. The Collaboration for Health Systems Analysis and Innovation (CHESAI) – a collaborative effort between the Universities of Cape Town and the Western Cape Schools of Public Health – has employed a non-research based post-doctoral research fellowship (PDRF) as a way of building African capacity in the field of HPSR by recruiting four post-docs. In this paper, we (the four post-docs) explore whether a PDRF is a useful approach for capacity building for the field of HPSR using our CHESAI PDRF experiences. METHODS: We used personal reflections of our written narratives providing detailed information regarding our engagement with CHESAI. The narratives were based on a question guide around our experiences through various activities and their impacts on our professional development. The data analysis process was highly iterative in nature, involving repeated meetings among the four post-docs to reflect, discuss and create themes that evolved from the discussions. RESULTS: The CHESAI PDRF provided multiple spaces for our engagement and capacity development in the field of HPSR. These spaces provided us with a wide range of learning experiences, including teaching and research, policy networking, skills for academic writing, engaging practitioners, co-production and community dialogue. Our reflections suggest that institutions providing PDRF such as this are valuable if they provide environments endowed with adequate resources, good leadership and spaces for innovation. Further, the PDRFs need to be grounded in a community of HPSR practice, and provide opportunities for the post-docs to gain an in-depth understanding of the broader theoretical and methodological underpinnings of the field. CONCLUSION: The study concludes that PDRF is a useful approach to capacity building in HPSR, but it needs be embedded in a community of practice for fellows to benefit. More academic institutions in Africa need to adopt innovative and flexible support for emerging leaders, researchers and practitioners to strengthen our health systemsen_US
dc.description.accreditationISI
dc.identifier.citationLembani, M. et al. (2016). Post-doctoral research fellowship as a health policy and systems research capacity development intervention: a case of the CHESAI initiative. Health Research Policy and Systems, 14: 89en_US
dc.identifier.issn1478-4505
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12961-016-0159-3
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10566/3855
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.privacy.showsubmitterFALSE
dc.publisherBioMed Centralen_US
dc.rights© The Author(s). 2016 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
dc.status.ispeerreviewedTRUE
dc.subjectPost-doctoral research fellowshipen_US
dc.subjectHealth policy and systems researchen_US
dc.subjectCapacity developmenten_US
dc.subjectPost-docsen_US
dc.titlePost-doctoral research fellowship as a health policy and systems research capacity development intervention: a case of the CHESAI initiativeen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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