How to get research into practice: first get practice into research

Is operational research delivering the goods? The journey to success in low-income countries

“…Consequently, there is little or no involvement of or ownership by the programme staff . 19,30 Because academic and research institutions are rarely involved in the translation of evidence into practice, research fi ndings could be perceived as being dumped on busy programme managers with little support for implementation. Finally, the research question or generated evidence might be irrelevant to the programme, or high implementation costs could prevent uptake of the evidence.…”

“…19,30,31 These partnerships can provide external criticism, which is useful for programme researchers. Innovative and product-oriented training courses that can deliver results within a short timeframe are also needed, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-US Agency for International Aid and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease-Médecins Sans Frontières models of sustainable operational research capacity building.…”

“…30,64,65 Systematic annual assessment of the successive steps in implementation of operational research and promotion of its eff ects on policy and practice would enable programmes in low-income countries to monitor the outputs of operational research agendas and projects (panel). The denominator is the number of studies approved by relevant ethics committees.…”

Operational research in low-income countries: what, why, and how?

“…What is needed is a change to a partnership model that counteracts this tendency through greater involvement, co-ownership, and responsibility of programme staff along with researchers. 28 For example, the research question should be developed by the entire team, including those involved with questionnaire development, collection and analysis of data, and dissemination of the results. Planning at this stage also requires a clear engagement with the people who make decisions on policy (eg, directors of preventive or clinical services in the Ministry of Health, or the Chief Commissioner of Prisons if the research is directed towards health issues of prisoners), so that they are aware of what is being asked, supportive of the research, and interested to learn about the fi ndings.…”

Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria and anaemia control in Tanzanian infants; the development and implementation of a public health strategy

“…Broad institutional and political support were garnered through stakeholders meetings at various levels and helped to assure the integration of the IPTi strategy into existing service delivery. 28 The Core Group was an efficient mechanism to develop a robust strategy by accessing the advice of key stakeholders on the development and finetuning of the delivery system. The establishment of this group helped maintain awareness and involvement in the process of strategy development, which has previously been shown to be vital in determining the longer-term utility of a health strategy.…”