Applied statistical training to strengthen analysis and health research capacity in Rwanda

Abstract

BackgroundTo guide efficient investment of limited health resources in sub-Saharan Africa, local researchers need to be involved in, and guide, health system and policy research. While extensive survey and census data are available to health researchers and program officers in resource-limited countries, local involvement and leadership in research is limited due to inadequate experience, lack of dedicated research time and weak interagency connections, among other challenges. Many research-strengthening initiatives host prolonged fellowships out-of-country, yet their approaches have not been evaluated for effectiveness in involvement and development of local leadership in research.MethodsWe developed, implemented and evaluated a multi-month, deliverable-driven, survey analysis training based in Rwanda to strengthen skills of five local research leaders, 15 statisticians, and a PhD candidate. Research leaders applied with a specific research question relevant to country challenges and committed to leading an analysis to publication. Statisticians with prerequisite statistical training and experience with a statistical software applied to participate in class-based trainings and complete an assigned analysis. Both statisticians and research leaders were provided ongoing in-country mentoring for analysis and manuscript writing.ResultsParticipants reported a high level of skill, knowledge and collaborator development from class-based trainings and out-of-class mentorship that were sustained 1 year later. Five of six manuscripts were authored by multi-institution teams and submitted to international peer-reviewed scientific journals, and three-quarters of the participants mentored others in survey data analysis or conducted an additional survey analysis in the year following the training.ConclusionsOur model was effective in utilizing existing survey data and strengthening skills among full-time working professionals without disrupting ongoing work commitments and using few resources. Critical to our success were a transparent, robust application process and time limited training supplemented by ongoing, in-country mentoring toward manuscript deliverables that were led by Rwanda’s health research leaders.

Building the evidence base on the HIV programme in India: an integrated approach to document programmatic learnings

“…Second, the programme brought together individuals with programme experience (mentees) and mentors with scientific rigor from academic and research institutions in a symbiotic partnership to build sound evidence from the data; while mentors provided mentees ongoing support throughout the topic conceptualisation, analysis and writing phases, programme managers who are ‘data producers and users’ provided insights from the data to inform appropriate programme strategies and priorities on the ground. As documented elsewhere, ongoing mentorship is critical to achieve high publication outcomes, and reduce drop-out and delay [ 1 , 13 , 18 , 19 ]. Moreover, mentor-mentee matching – where each mentee was paired with a mentor with expertise in their field – optimised interaction and guidance, and facilitated the timely completion of quality papers [ 15 ].…”

Implementation, Outputs, and Cost of a National Operational Research Training in Rwanda

“…Mentorship is key for a new researcher's success. Adequate mentorship is needed for research trainees to produce quality research outputs [22][23][24]. Mentorship takes different forms, either hands-off or hands-on [22].…”

“…To date, all senior course mentors in IORT have been non-Rwandans who were either Rwanda-based or had lived in Rwanda for at least two years. Notably, local mentors are best suited to ensure training program ownership and increase the sustainability of the investments for national research capacity [23,24]. This is because local mentors demonstrate the reality of a research career locally and improve the relevance of research projects to local priorities [23,24].…”

“…Notably, local mentors are best suited to ensure training program ownership and increase the sustainability of the investments for national research capacity [23,24]. This is because local mentors demonstrate the reality of a research career locally and improve the relevance of research projects to local priorities [23,24]. They also reduce the course delivery costs (for example in regards to international travel costs) that can be prohibitive in nationalizing these training programs [23,24].…”

Growing research in global surgery with an eye towards equity

“…The PIH/R Research Department has developed even more stringent guidelines, with specificity on the balance of Rwandan representation in research projects and expectations that projects grow Rwandan collaborators' capacity for research. In addition, the PIH/R Research Department initiated a comprehensive research training programme in 2012, which includes offerings ranging from an Introduction to Research training course, providing a broad exposure to research concepts, to sending colleagues for advanced degrees. Overall, this research capacity‐building programme has been valuable for improved research projects outputs in that: projects can leverage the skills and expertise developed in these trainings; and projects can use these trainings to develop their teams when they do not have the resources to lead their own capacity‐building activities.…”