SUNI-SEA project organised its first webinar in March, titled “Moving forward: how to continue public health implementation research in low- and middle-income countries during COVID-19”
Date: 3 March 2020
Time: 8:00 am London / 3:00 pm Bangkok
Duration: 90 minutes
Platform: Virtual webinar
Implementation research projects in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the government policy to lockdown and limit mobility in all of the project sites. This has affected community engagement at both primary health care and community organisation levels. Also, researchers could not visit the project sites to interact with healthcare workers and community members. As these were essential aspects of the implementation research project, adapted ways of working were needed. These included the development of new tools, new/increased use of digital communication and approaches to coordination.
This webinar is organised by the Scaling up Non-Communicable Disease Interventions in Southeast Asia (SUNI-SEA) project, an implementation research project conducted in Indonesia, Myanmar, and Vietnam, which is funded by the EU Horizon 2020.
The aim of this webinar is for researchers from selected implementation research projects in various regions, to share their experiences continuing research projects during the pandemic. Then together with public health experts discuss key lessons learnt from managing the challenges, including the adaptation of research methods, the disruption of essential health services and emerging issues created by COVID-19 for people living with NCDs. Finally, the webinar participants will consider the implications for future implementation research, particularly about how we can build resilient NCD research in the future?
Panelists:
- Jaap Koot, Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherland / SUNI-SEA Project Coordinator
- Vitri Widyaningsih, Sebelas Maret University, Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine Medical Faculty, Sebelas Maret University
- Christopher Pell, Senior Researcher, Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development
- Bindu Patel, Senior Research Fellow, The George Institute for Global Health
- Edward Mberu Kamau, Technical Officer, Research Capacity Strengthening, Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR)
- Isobel Bandurek, Research Capacity Manager, Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD)
- Yodi Mahendradhata, Vice Dean for Research and Development, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
Relevant resources
Find below a compilation of resources relating to the webinar and implementation research.
Literature review “Implementing global health research during the pandemic: what are the lessons for the future?”
Presentations:
- SUNI-SEA project: A case study from Indonesia
- WHO-PEN@Scale – implementation research in Eswatini during COVID times
- Implementation research capacity building in the Southeast Asian and Western Pacific region
Key lesson learnt: notes from the webinar
TDR Postgraduate Scholarship in Implementation Research Academic year 2022/23 – Call for Application