Strengthening Nurses’ Capacity in HIV Policy Development
in Sub-Saharan Africa & the Caribbean
A Program of Research and Capacity Building: 2007-2011
Funded with a grant from the International Development
Research Centre, Canada
on behalf of the Global Health Research Initiative
This four-year program of research and capacity building is led by an international
team of 20 researchers and research users from Canada, Kenya, Jamaica, Uganda,
South Africa, and Barbados.
Principal investigators
Nancy Edwards, RN, PhD, University of Ottawa, Canada
Dan Kaseje, PhD, Great Lakes University of Kisumu, Kenya
Eulalia Kahwa, RN, PhD, University of the West Indies, Jamaica
Co-investigators: Canada (June Webber, Judy Mill, Susan Roelofs, Frances
Legault, Josephine Etowa, Colleen Davison, Jean Groft, Greta Cummings, Walter
Kipp, Solina Richter, Ann Tourangeau); Kenya (Pamela Juma); Jamaica (Cerese
Hepburn-Brown); Uganda (Mariam Walusimbi); Barbados (Marion Frances-Howard,
Angela Crawford); South Africa (Hester Klopper).
Goal
To contribute to health systems strengthening for HIV and AIDS in Sub-Saharan
Africa and the Caribbean by improving the quality of HIV and AIDS nursing
care, supporting the scaling-up of innovative HIV and AIDS programs and
practices, and fostering dynamic and sustained engagement of researchers
and research users in the policy development process.
The program uses a participatory action research approach and involves four research projects in five countries (Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Jamaica, and Barbados) and a range of capacity-building mechanisms. It will provide a critical platform for developing research and leadership capacity among nurses and midwives in these lower-middle income countries (LMICs).
Research Projects |
Purpose |
1. Nursing Practice in HIV Prevention and AIDS Care in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean |
To describe and understand issues that affect the role of nurses and midwives in HIV prevention and AIDS care for individuals and families living with HIV and AIDS. |
2. The Interface among Health System Priorities, Capacity-Building, and Policy Innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean |
To understand the impact of the HIV and AIDS epidemic on the nursing workforce, the influence of international donors and national HIV and AIDS strategies on workplace policies; and to examine the influence of national and bottom-up (nurse-led) program innovations on nurses’ provision of HIV and AIDS services. |
3. Dynamic Collaborations to Strengthen Health Care Systems for HIV and AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean |
To examine how leadership hubs of decision-makers, community representatives, front-line nurses and managers, and researchers influence nurses’ engagement in policy development and collaborative action to address HIV and AIDS in order to strengthen health care delivery systems. |
4. International Comparative Case Studies |
To compare across study countries, the process and short-term impact of involving decision-makers, community representatives, front-line nurses and managers, and researchers in a participatory process of critical inquiry, capacity building and action to strengthen the health care system for patients and families living with HIV and AIDS. |
Capacity Building Strategies
Leadership Hubs: Three leadership hubs will be established in each country, fostering dynamic collaboration among front-line nurses and managers, researchers, decision makers and community representatives. Hubs will link nursing leaders with other stakeholders in government, NGOs and the community to build a sustainable infrastructure for leadership capacity in research, knowledge translation, and collaboration. They will function as a lever for change, or enabling mechanism, that translates enhanced capacity into action for policy and practice change on HIV and AIDS.
International Research Internship: An intensive research training program for junior nurse researchers from partner countries aims to create a critical mass of nurse researchers addressing local health priorities and with a leadership role in improving health policy and practice. Interns will collaborate with local decision-makers, and local and Canadian research mentors. The project will fund 30 interns, with an option for self-funded Canadian interns to participate. It will be held in 2008 in Ottawa, Canada; in 2009 in Kisumu, Kenya, and in 2010 in Kingston, Jamaica.
Policy and Knowledge Translation Workshop for Leadership Hubs: Two policy workshops focused on HIV and AIDS as a health system issue will be offered to hubs to assist members in developing strategies for change and support hubs in developing action plans for research uptake and dissemination.
Focused mentorship structures: Will include formalized links to decision-makers in health services and policy arenas, and research mentorship offered on-site and via distance.
Opportunities and Incentives for Graduate Student and Junior Researcher Involvement: e.g. Pilot funding for new research projects will be offered for joint initiatives involving Canadian and LMIC graduate students, junior LMIC faculty, and LMIC interns doing a research practicum with one of our projects.
Governance
Team Executive Committee: Co-Principal Investigators,
the co-Leads of each research project, and a representative from each
partner country will provide direction on the overall program of research
and capacity building. Several Technical Working Groups will oversee
the direction of research, evaluation, and knowledge translation activities.
National Advisory Committee in each study country: To advise the research team on local research priorities, cultural and contextual relevance, certain data collection activities, and act as networks for translating research into action for policy and practice change. Committees will be multi-disciplinary, building relationships among members from different levels of power and authority in health systems (e.g. nursing professional associations, deans of nursing or health sciences departments, people living with HIV and AIDS, National AIDS Commission, front-line nurses, union organizations, national/regional representatives of multilateral or international agencies).
International Advisory Committee: To contribute to overall project direction and strategies to maximize impact, sustainability, and capacity building including opportunities for knowledge translation to international agencies (e.g. WHO, ICN), technical expertise on gender analysis and accessing regional/international levers for policy change; and linkages to networks and resources. The Committee will involve regional (Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Canada) and international stakeholders (policy makers, practitioners, civil society organizations, funding bodies).
For More Information
Susan Roelofs, Program Manager
Strengthening Nurses’ Capacity in HIV Policy Development in Sub-Saharan
Africa and the Caribbean
School of Nursing, University of Ottawa
451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON Canada K1H 8M5
Email: sroelofs@uottawa.ca / Tel:
613-562-5800 ext. 8438; Fax: 613-562-5658
