Background
The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (AHPSR) are developing a country-focused programme to support the implementation of technical cooperation projects in the Region. The objective of this initiative is to facilitate improvements in programme implementation through implementation research that is embedded within existing processes in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. These are country-focused proposals and are not conventional ‘research studies’. The funds might be used to cover the costs of some researchers’ time or data collection activities, but it should not be used to pay for additional staff within the programme.
Implementation research is most likely to be useful where implementers, such as programme managers and district health officers, have played a part in the identification, design and conduct of the research undertaken, and are not just a passive recipients of results. People on the frontline of health care, whether running specific programmes, or working in health systems have a great deal to contribute to the information-gathering endeavour.
These subsidies (small grants) are for programme implementers to assist them:
- apply research methods and approaches to generate insights that enable more effective implementation of programmes
- support the embedding of implementation research within existing implementation processes and as a routine part of programme activities
- close gaps in existing knowledge on the subject of implementation
- facilitate decision-making based on the best available evidence.
This programme will comprise two components.
- Capacity development for implementers, including training on identifying implementation barriers and on the application of methodological research approaches to understand and address these barriers;
- Grants (US$ 10 000–15 000) to support the conduct of implementation of research activities by key stakeholders to resolve key implementation barriers.
Requirements
Proposals that are submitted must address health programme implementation through implementation research that is embedded within existing processes. The initiative will allow ongoing national or regional health projects to test strategies that overcome implementation barriers in a short amount of time.
Implementers will play a leadership role in the research endeavour, using implementation research as a tool to improve policy and programmatic decision-making processes. Implementers will lead the identification of implementation barriers and work collaboratively with a researcher or research team of their choice.
The subsidies are intended for institutions in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region. The funds might be used to cover the costs of some researchers’ time or data collection activities, but it should not be used to pay for additional staff within the programme.
The project should be conducted as part of programme activities, and not purely as ‘research activities’. Although the leads for each project will be an implementer, it may be the case that academic researchers may be embedded as members of the team.
These subsidies are NOT to fund academic training to obtain official qualifications or for experimental studies or data collection on humans or biological specimens, or the acquisition of skills not related to a specific scientific result. In addition, they are not intended to be new research projects.
Examples of implementation questions
- What are common barriers to programme or policy implementation? (e.g. Identify the cultural preferences and traditional beliefs impeding early and exclusive breastfeeding).
- What factors should be considered in developing an implementation strategy for a given intervention? (e.g. Contextual facilitators to the implementation of a community health insurance scheme in low-resource settings).
- How do implementation processes impact the outcome of an intervention? (e.g. Comparative assessment of implementation strategies yielding different health outcomes and impacts).
- What factors are likely to influence the scale up of an intervention, and how best to address these factors in a scale up strategy? (e.g. Qualitative study with scenario-building exercises for the scale-up of a programme to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV).
Submission of applications
Applicants must submit their proposal in Word format (Arial font, size 12, 1.5 line spacing) containing the following information.
Proposer ID
- Country focal point (person and institution),
- Full names co-participants (last names UPPERCASE),
- Complete mailing address, phone number and personal email, and
- Current position, address, telephone number, email and website of the institution.
A rationale and expected results (maximum of 1200 words) stating:
- Background, general and specific objectives of the programme and main outcomes/outputs
- Description of a challenge or barrier to implementation that can be addressed
- Project title
- Abstract
- Background, general goal and specific objectives and main outcomes/outputs and indicators of the programme:
- A brief description of a challenge or barrier to implementation that can be addressed
- Country(ies) (to be implemented)
- Related with the following service programme(s)
- Excepted results
- Timeframe
- An itemized budget
An official letter of endorsement from the applicant's home institution confirming qualifications to carry out the proposed activity and stating that this would be granted the relevant consent.
Applicants should attach all the documents mentioned above in a single PDF file. The email subject should be marked as: "full name of the applicant institution - grant iPIER 2014".
Applications will be reviewed by WHO's Department of Information Evidence and Research, and will be submitted to a panel of experts to take into account the relevance and approach of the proposed programme, the scientific quality and feasibility of the results that are expected to be delivered and potential of the project to change the overall programme performance to be obtained within 12 months.
Selected proposals will receive:
1. Development of research protocol and research implementation training
A training workshop convened by the Regional Office and the AHPSR will provide to the programme managers and district health officers with a basic understanding of research implementation methodologies and approaches, as well as their application in order to resolve the implementation barriers identified. At the completion of the training workshop, each project team will have a fully developed implementation research protocol along with implementation plan. Ethical approval of the protocol will be sought when required.
2. Implementation of data collection and ongoing monitoring
Following the protocol development workshop and basic research training, the projects will initiate data collection activities within their respective sites supported by a coordinating centre located within the Region.
3. Analysis of data
Once the data collection has been completed, a second workshop will be convened by the Regional Office and the AHPSR focusing on the analysis and interpretation of the data as well as on how to write up the results for peer reviewed publication. The beneficiaries of the grant commit themselves to publish the results of the study according to the guidelines defined by the Regional Office.
Expected outcomes of this initiative: at the conclusion of this initiative, each project will report on what changes have been made as a result of the new knowledge generated and what, if any, impact, these changes have had on the overall programme performance. Each project should also submit a manuscript describing how data has been used to inform changes within the programme and how this has improved or not, the implementation of these programmes.
Submission of applications is 14 September 2014. Applications received after that date will not be taken into considered.
Tentative date for proposal selection: 15 October 2014.
Maximum amount subsidies per project: US $15 000.
Deadline for delivery of the final product: October 2015.
For more information, please contact:
Research Promotion and Development programme
Department of Information, Evidence and Research
Email:
