Episode 80

Research Capacity Strengthening Is Everyone’s Business

In this second episode of our mini-series on Research Capacity Strengthening (RCS), we explore what it means to widen the focus of capacity strengthening, beyond researchers and clinicians, to include media, programme managers, community leaders, teachers, caregivers, and more.

Hosted on location at the PACTS Year 3 Partners Meeting, this episode shows how the PACTS programme (Patient-centred Sickle Cell Disease Management in sub-Saharan Africa) has embedded a more inclusive and cyclical approach to RCS. You’ll hear how strengthening media capacity, using content analysis, and co-developing strategies with non-clinical stakeholders can make health systems more responsive and sustainable. We also look at how information itself, when shared in the right way with patients and communities, can be a powerful form of capacity strengthening.

In this episode:

Dr. Motto Nganda – Global Health Researcher: Collaborative Implementation Research for Health Systems Strengthening, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

Motto is a medical and public health professional from the University of Douala and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. He brings over six years’ experience in participatory implementation research, focusing on person-centred care and health system strengthening in the Global South. In PACTS, Motto supports implementation research across all three countries, coordinating participatory action cycles, standards-based audits, and realist evaluation.

Bernard Appiah - Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health, Falk College, Syracuse University

Bernard is a pharmacist, journalist, and Assistant Professor at the Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, USA. He is also Director of the Centre for Science and Health Communication in Ghana. With expertise in media, health communication, and public engagement, Bernard leads the media content analysis and communication work for PACTS. His work connects journalists and researchers, builds capacity through joint training, and strengthens how sickle cell disease is communicated across public platforms and policy.

Reuben Chianumba - Programme Manager for the PACTS Project, Centre of Excellence for Sickle Cell Research and Training (CESRTA), University of Abuja

Reuben is the Programme Manager for PACTS in Nigeria, with a background in Medical Biochemistry and extensive experience in research coordination, stakeholder engagement, and community mobilisation. He supports the delivery of PACTS objectives at CESRTA and plays a key role in integrating newborn screening, capacity-building workshops, and local advocacy efforts.

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Transcript
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Dr. Kim Ozano: Hello listeners and welcome to Connecting Citizens to Science,

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a podcast where we discuss current research and debates in global health.

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I'm your host, Dr. Kim Ozano, and once again, we're on location in Liverpool at

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the three-year PACTS Partners meeting.

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In this episode, produced in partnership with the Centre for Capacity

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Research at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, we explore how

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research capacity strengthening goes beyond researchers and clinicians.

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From journalists and programme managers to community leaders,

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teachers and caregivers, everyone has a role to play in improving health

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outcomes when they're equipped with the knowledge and tools to do so.

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You'll hear how the PACTS programme, which is focused on patient's

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centred sickle cell disease management in Sub-Saharan Africa has

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embedded a more inclusive cyclical approach to capacity-strengthening.

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You'll also hear how journalists and researchers are learning to

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collaborate from the start, and how community-led conversations

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are helping to tackle stigma.

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We even discuss how accurate information shared with patients' families can be a

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powerful form of capacity strengthening in itself when it's situated in the

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right environment of the project.

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Joining me are three expert guests who bring their different perspectives

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on what it means to strengthen capacity for lasting change.

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We're joined by Dr. Motto Nganda, who is a medical professional and public

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health expert with experience across the Global South in co-producing

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and scaling up person-centred care through participatory research.

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Within PACTS, he coordinates implementation research across all sites.

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We are also joined by Bernard Appiah, who is a pharmacist, a

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journalist and assistant professor at Syracuse University, and the

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Director of the Center for Science and Health Communication in Ghana.

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He leads the media and health communication elements of PACTS,

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exploring how journalists and researchers can collaborate more

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effectively across the life of a project.

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Finally, we're joined by Reuben Chianumba, who is a programme manager for PACTS

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in Nigeria, and brings practical insights into stakeholder engagement,

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community mobilisation, and the logistics of turning strategy into reality.

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So let's find out how bringing the right people together at

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the right time can make research capacity-strengthening more inclusive,

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more sustainable, and more impactful.

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So, it's great to have you with us.

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And I think today we're gonna understand a bit more about capacity-strengthening

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across not just researchers, not just clinicians, but wider than that as well.

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Motto, perhaps you could tell us briefly about the PACTS programme and sickle

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cell, so we can situate our conversation.

Motto Nganda:

Yes.

Motto Nganda:

PACTS, actually means Patient-centred Sickle Cell Disease Management

Motto Nganda:

in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Motto Nganda:

It is a multi-country project that looks at patient-centredness in

Motto Nganda:

delivering care or management for people living with sickle cell disease.

Motto Nganda:

Patient-centredness means taking into consideration the beliefs, the values,

Motto Nganda:

and the needs of the people affected and involving them fully in the decisions

Motto Nganda:

and processes around their care.

Motto Nganda:

Sickle cell disease is actually a hereditary disease, so it's gotten from

Motto Nganda:

the parents and transmitted down to the children, and it's a disease that affects

Motto Nganda:

quite a lot of people in the world right now, a lot more in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Motto Nganda:

And PACTS works in three main countries in Zambia, in Ghana and in Nigeria.

Motto Nganda:

But the consortium is made up of more countries including, institutions

Motto Nganda:

in the UK, like the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and

Motto Nganda:

the Syracuse University in the USA.

Motto Nganda:

Dr. Kim Ozano: Fantastic.

Motto Nganda:

And I understand that the PACTS programme has been really passionate

Motto Nganda:

about capacity-strengthening across multiple stakeholders.

Motto Nganda:

So, each of you have a different focus around capacity-strengthening,

Motto Nganda:

and Bernard, you are the media lead for the programme.

Motto Nganda:

I think we think about capacity- strengthening a lot with researchers,

Motto Nganda:

and we've heard from clinicians, tell us about the media capacity-strengthening

Motto Nganda:

and why it's needed.

Bernard Appiah:

When it comes to media, when you are working with journalists,

Bernard Appiah:

particularly those in countries often do not have graduate degrees in science

Bernard Appiah:

journalism, you have specialists who will be reporting on science and health issues.

Bernard Appiah:

If these people are going to be the ones reporting on sickle cell disease,

Bernard Appiah:

we have to build their capacity to be able to report adequately on the

Bernard Appiah:

disease, but also not only journalists, even of course, researchers do not have

Bernard Appiah:

the capacity to do media interviews.

Bernard Appiah:

So, we have to build their capacity so that they will be able to do media

Bernard Appiah:

interviews, but also even beyond that, they could even write opinions.

Bernard Appiah:

They can easily interact with journalists.

Bernard Appiah:

So, there is an aspect of PACTS which bring journalists

Bernard Appiah:

and researchers together.

Bernard Appiah:

It is one of a few projects where you will find journalists and researchers

Bernard Appiah:

under one roof being trained to be able to interact with each other effectively.

Bernard Appiah:

Dr. Kim Ozano: That's amazing to have that embedded within the programme as well.

Bernard Appiah:

Motto.

Bernard Appiah:

As a researcher, how has that been for you?

Motto Nganda:

It's been really amazing.

Motto Nganda:

I haven't had an episode where I sit down with journalists to do that, but I have

Motto Nganda:

seen the output of what is coming from Bernard's work on engaging researchers

Motto Nganda:

and journalists to be able to discuss the content on what is going out there

Motto Nganda:

for sickle cell disease, and I think it's really fantastic because journalists,

Motto Nganda:

I believe, do know how to approach the people and how to share that information,

Motto Nganda:

but researchers have the knowledge on what is really very necessary.

Motto Nganda:

So, combining that together between knowing what is necessary and how

Motto Nganda:

to do that is really fantastic.

Motto Nganda:

I think it's really a good plus for the project.

Motto Nganda:

Dr. Kim Ozano: Okay.

Motto Nganda:

And then you also have a capacity-strengthening

Motto Nganda:

role within the programme.

Motto Nganda:

Tell us a bit more about that.

Motto Nganda:

Yes, we know that managing sickle cell disease

Motto Nganda:

is very multidisciplinary.

Motto Nganda:

And if we also want to do it in a people or patient-centred way, we

Motto Nganda:

have to involve everyone that is involved in the needs of that patient.

Motto Nganda:

And capacity-strengthening involves both clinical and

Motto Nganda:

nonclinical capacity-strengthening.

Motto Nganda:

So, clinical is focused on healthcare professionals, that includes doctors and

Motto Nganda:

nurses on the clinical and hospital based management of sickle cell disease itself,

Motto Nganda:

but also on social aspects of management of sickle cell disease, which involves

Motto Nganda:

things like patient reception, patient times, how to manage stress associated

Motto Nganda:

with sickle cell disease, things like addressing stigma and all of that.

Motto Nganda:

So, all of that capacity is really very essential for people engaged

Motto Nganda:

in the management process of people living with sickle cell disease.

Motto Nganda:

And that goes for both the clinical and the nonclinical people because if

Motto Nganda:

we look at, say for example, community stakeholders or community members,

Motto Nganda:

including people who care for people living with sickle cell disease, for

Motto Nganda:

example, their parents or siblings, they need to understand the disease.

Motto Nganda:

They need to understand the manifestations of the disease so

Motto Nganda:

they can be able to understand what the person is going through to be

Motto Nganda:

able to support them adequately.

Motto Nganda:

This also extends to other community stakeholders, like teachers in schools,

Motto Nganda:

religious leaders in religious settings where people need to understand what

Motto Nganda:

is happening to these individuals.

Motto Nganda:

So, they're able to put in measures and structures in place to be able

Motto Nganda:

to support these individuals to strive in their best of abilities.

Motto Nganda:

Dr. Kim Ozano: I'm really getting the picture for the whole systematic approach.

Motto Nganda:

It's starting to link up all the different elements right up to dissemination.

Motto Nganda:

So, bringing in our, our last guest here, project management.

Motto Nganda:

Tell me about capacity-strengthening in your role.

Reuben Chianumba:

Yes.

Reuben Chianumba:

My name is Reuben Chianumba.

Reuben Chianumba:

I'm the programme manager for the PACTS programme in Nigeria.

Reuben Chianumba:

We focus on making sure that we have the right people, we have the traditional

Reuben Chianumba:

chiefs, we have the government policymakers, we have the hospital

Reuben Chianumba:

management, community leaders, religious leaders, people who influence policies

Reuben Chianumba:

in sickle cell disease, we bring them together to ensure that they have the

Reuben Chianumba:

right knowledge, they have the right skill, and they have the right capacity

Reuben Chianumba:

to make sure that the programme makes a lot of impact to the community.

Reuben Chianumba:

Dr. Kim Ozano: So, from a practical perspective, is that like a capacity

Reuben Chianumba:

assessment that you start with?

Reuben Chianumba:

Yes.

Reuben Chianumba:

We check what the baseline is, what you know, and then we now

Reuben Chianumba:

build on what you already know.

Reuben Chianumba:

So yeah, we start from the point of know, and then we build to

Reuben Chianumba:

where we want you to get to.

Reuben Chianumba:

Yes.

Reuben Chianumba:

Do you have the skills to counsel children as a teacher?

Reuben Chianumba:

Do you have the skills to educate people who want to get married

Reuben Chianumba:

about sickle cell disease?

Reuben Chianumba:

Do you understand what it means as a caregiver, a patient who has

Reuben Chianumba:

pain, what their pain score is?

Reuben Chianumba:

Can you assess what kind of care the patient needs, those kind of

Reuben Chianumba:

capacities can be built both as a caregiver, as a stakeholder, as a

Reuben Chianumba:

healthcare provider or as a policymaker.

Reuben Chianumba:

Yeah.

Reuben Chianumba:

Dr. Kim Ozano: So, all of the stakeholders have a capacity assessment

Reuben Chianumba:

as a starting point, is that right?

Bernard Appiah:

Yeah.

Bernard Appiah:

And just to add a point to that, so when you look at, if you bring

Bernard Appiah:

journalists and researchers together, we know of a very important health

Bernard Appiah:

communication research methodology, which is called content analysis.

Bernard Appiah:

Dr. Kim Ozano: Mm.

Bernard Appiah:

And that kind of approach is used by communication scholars to

Bernard Appiah:

look at the extent to which a particular health topic has been covered over time,

Bernard Appiah:

but researchers who are in the health side, some of them usually don't even

Bernard Appiah:

know how to do it, but journalists are also interested in knowing how to do it.

Bernard Appiah:

By assessment, we got to know that both have expressed a

Bernard Appiah:

need for training in that.

Bernard Appiah:

Dr. Kim Ozano: Mm-hmm.

Bernard Appiah:

And then because of the assessment, we had to

Bernard Appiah:

organise workshop to train them.

Bernard Appiah:

So, assessment is always very important before you actually build capacity.

Bernard Appiah:

Yeah.

Bernard Appiah:

Dr. Kim Ozano: So, you do your capacity assessment, you understand

Bernard Appiah:

what the gaps are, and then how do you decide on the content?

Bernard Appiah:

I guess there's quite a lot of need across all the stakeholders.

Bernard Appiah:

Is there a priority process?

Motto Nganda:

Yes.

Motto Nganda:

Often there is a priority process.

Motto Nganda:

Now it depends on which of the target audience or target population

Motto Nganda:

we are trying to capacitate.

Motto Nganda:

Whether it's clinical or it's at a community, or it's with journalists and

Motto Nganda:

others, we do carry out prioritising techniques or methods that we prioritise

Motto Nganda:

what we think that is most needed at that time for that particular set of persons

Motto Nganda:

who need that capacity-strengthening.

Motto Nganda:

So, we do carry out prioritisation.

Reuben Chianumba:

One important testimony I want to say here is what

Reuben Chianumba:

PACTS has been able to do, they have been able to help us to go into the

Reuben Chianumba:

communities, to be able to talk to our religious leaders, our traditional

Reuben Chianumba:

leaders, and our community leaders, that this is an important project.

Reuben Chianumba:

We need to bring these patients back to care.

Reuben Chianumba:

We have a problem of loss to follow up.

Reuben Chianumba:

So, we've been able through the PACTS project to be able to go back into

Reuben Chianumba:

the community to tell these patients that we have a programme that can

Reuben Chianumba:

help you be integrated back into care, help you manage your sickle

Reuben Chianumba:

cell disease problem and support you all the way in managing that crisis.

Reuben Chianumba:

The community leaders were able to say reach out to our people.

Reuben Chianumba:

They're able to give us the resources, give us the floor, and give us

Reuben Chianumba:

the community members to talk to.

Reuben Chianumba:

And this has built impact.

Reuben Chianumba:

Dr. Kim Ozano: So, Bernard, that's got me thinking, the content analysis with

Reuben Chianumba:

the media that's out there, does it give you an idea of the kind of knowledge

Reuben Chianumba:

and awareness within the community and how sickle cell is being talked about so

Reuben Chianumba:

that programmes can shape their language?

Bernard Appiah:

Yes.

Bernard Appiah:

Typically, with media content analysis, you will have to

Bernard Appiah:

select a particular media.

Bernard Appiah:

If you have a lot of resources, you can decide to do all of the

Bernard Appiah:

media, but in general, you have to do also something meaningful

Bernard Appiah:

within a shorter time, if possible.

Bernard Appiah:

So, for the purpose of PACTS we focused on newspapers across Africa

Bernard Appiah:

and how they have reported on sickle cell disease over the years.

Bernard Appiah:

And so, we identified some gaps, for example, to what extent have

Bernard Appiah:

they been citing researchers?

Bernard Appiah:

If researchers have been publishing in journals and the articles are not being

Bernard Appiah:

cited by journalists that shows that the researchers are not reaching out to

Bernard Appiah:

the journalist, or if the journalists are not citing more patients, it

Bernard Appiah:

means the voices of patients are not being heard in these kind of articles.

Bernard Appiah:

And we also know that articles that get published in newspapers, some

Bernard Appiah:

of them end up also being discussed on radio or even on television.

Bernard Appiah:

So, even though we are using only one for now, it has given us an indication

Bernard Appiah:

of how media coverage is and the extent of knowledge that is getting from

Bernard Appiah:

the media to members of the public because, newspapers are written with

Bernard Appiah:

the public in mind, and so if what is there is not adequate, it suggests

Bernard Appiah:

that there may be low knowledge on particular sickle cell disease topics.

Bernard Appiah:

Dr. Kim Ozano: It's truly fascinating.

Bernard Appiah:

I'm really enjoying this conversation and learning so much.

Bernard Appiah:

So, that almost brings me back to you Motto around some of the social

Bernard Appiah:

aspects that you were talking about.

Bernard Appiah:

Does this content analysis also give you a feel for, you talked about

Bernard Appiah:

stigma and and how people receive patients, does that end up being and

Bernard Appiah:

built into the capacity-strengthening the clinician's area?

Motto Nganda:

It is a very vital component on management of people

Motto Nganda:

living with sickle cell disease.

Motto Nganda:

Because if someone is stigmatised, for example, at the level of the

Motto Nganda:

health facility, the next thing is that they will not want to go

Motto Nganda:

there anymore, and it breaks their treatment and puts them in a bad state.

Motto Nganda:

So, that aspect on managing stigma or addressing stigma, how to address a person

Motto Nganda:

presenting with, for example, severe pain.

Motto Nganda:

How to manage someone presenting with yellow eyes and so on.

Motto Nganda:

So, it's about not making that person feel different or feel less than

Motto Nganda:

any other person within the room.

Motto Nganda:

In addition to that, we also improve the capacity of both clinicians and

Motto Nganda:

non-clinician to be able to conduct research on sickle cell disease so people

Motto Nganda:

can get the capacity to use their data, to be able to collect data in their routine

Motto Nganda:

service delivery, and analyse the data no matter how basic it, it might look and

Motto Nganda:

use that information to be able to take informed decisions on how to manage care

Motto Nganda:

and provide structures for people with sickle cell disease within their context.

Motto Nganda:

So, I think that individual and institutional research capacity

Motto Nganda:

component for this project is also really very important.

Motto Nganda:

Dr. Kim Ozano: And for our listeners, the episode before and after, this one covers

Motto Nganda:

quite a lot of that in detail as well.

Motto Nganda:

So, that's really useful to make that connection.

Motto Nganda:

What I'm learning is there's lots of different capacity strengthening,

Motto Nganda:

right from the community level all the way through the health system to the

Motto Nganda:

general public and also policymakers

Motto Nganda:

. What I'm interested in now is that the PACTS programme works across three

Motto Nganda:

countries, and I'm guessing the capacities and the assets and the strengths in

Motto Nganda:

each of those countries is different.

Motto Nganda:

How is that managed in the programme?

Bernard Appiah:

That's a very good question.

Bernard Appiah:

I think regarding the media components, even though there are

Bernard Appiah:

three different countries, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia, many of the

Bernard Appiah:

themes that occur in one country tend to also occur in other places.

Bernard Appiah:

Dr. Kim Ozano: Okay.

Bernard Appiah:

But we also wouldn't say that because of that

Bernard Appiah:

we do only one assessment in one country and then use that result

Bernard Appiah:

and apply in the other countries.

Bernard Appiah:

We had to assess all the three countries, and then look at the

Bernard Appiah:

common themes and then build their capacity with a focus on those

Bernard Appiah:

themes, but also, where there are some differences, we needed to address that.

Bernard Appiah:

So, we compare the general themes alongside specific country needs as well.

Motto Nganda:

We also evaluate people's capacities and capabilities

Motto Nganda:

before engaging them in the capacity-strengthening process.

Motto Nganda:

While we find a lot of common themes cutting across all three countries,

Motto Nganda:

we also find some interesting differences that needs context

Motto Nganda:

focused capacity-strengthening.

Motto Nganda:

And that is also carried out specifically for those countries and sometimes not the

Motto Nganda:

entire country, but sometimes specifically for certain health facilities or certain

Motto Nganda:

communities that have a particular need.

Motto Nganda:

We are trying to make it very people-centred or patient-centred.

Motto Nganda:

So, we make sure that it is context focused, value focused, needs based.

Motto Nganda:

Dr. Kim Ozano: Perfect.

Motto Nganda:

So, you're partway through the programme now?

Motto Nganda:

What's coming next?

Motto Nganda:

We need to do a lot of dissemination.

Motto Nganda:

But the good thing with this project is that we are having certain activities

Motto Nganda:

that we embed dissemination in it.

Motto Nganda:

So, for the action research cycle, work package where we do standards

Motto Nganda:

based audit and participatory action cycles with community teams.

Motto Nganda:

The standard based audit are with clinical teams.

Motto Nganda:

We meet every three to four months.

Motto Nganda:

The two teams meet to discuss their findings, to share findings, and discuss

Motto Nganda:

what people-centred care means to the people with sickle cell disease.

Motto Nganda:

During those meetings stakeholders, some policy makers, are invited

Motto Nganda:

and so they already embedded in that process of dissemination

Motto Nganda:

in the course of the project.

Motto Nganda:

And then in addition to that, we would have the normal academic outputs like blog

Motto Nganda:

posts and policy briefs and academic peer reviewed journals and journal articles.

Motto Nganda:

And then we are going to have dissemination workshops as well towards

Motto Nganda:

the end of the projects in each country.

Motto Nganda:

The good thing which I really like is the fact that we are

Motto Nganda:

not waiting for the end...

Motto Nganda:

Dr. Kim Ozano: yeah.

Motto Nganda:

To disseminate we are carrying out dissemination in

Motto Nganda:

the course of the project rollout.

Motto Nganda:

Dr. Kim Ozano: This sounds like a beautiful process to me.

Motto Nganda:

So, I think what I would like to know is, the process sounds so clear.

Motto Nganda:

We're it now and you're all smiling.

Motto Nganda:

Is there challenges and what are they?

Reuben Chianumba:

Some of the challenges that we have experienced

Reuben Chianumba:

in growing the programme include difficulty in influencing policy.

Reuben Chianumba:

Some countries, let me use Nigeria as an example.

Reuben Chianumba:

Some policies are difficult to change because of availability of funds or maybe

Reuben Chianumba:

the economy of the country and so on, but we've gotten some commitment from some

Reuben Chianumba:

policymakers, from some leaders to say, okay, this is the level we're going to go.

Reuben Chianumba:

Dr. Kim Ozano: It sounds like another capacity, how to navigate

Reuben Chianumba:

and work with policymakers in that mutually beneficial way as well.

Reuben Chianumba:

A challenge.

Bernard Appiah:

Yeah.

Bernard Appiah:

I think also regarding the media component, typically when you read

Bernard Appiah:

an article published in a journal, you don't often see journalists

Bernard Appiah:

as co-authors of those articles.

Bernard Appiah:

And so, if you are now bringing journalists and researchers together

Bernard Appiah:

to work on manuscripts, that may lead to even publications, certainly

Bernard Appiah:

there will be some challenges.

Bernard Appiah:

And we are trying to navigate how that will be resolved.

Bernard Appiah:

Part of the reason is because of course, researchers, their

Bernard Appiah:

work is just to publish.

Bernard Appiah:

For journalists, their work is also published, but not in the

Bernard Appiah:

context of the researchers.

Bernard Appiah:

Dr. Kim Ozano: Yeah.

Bernard Appiah:

Yeah.

Bernard Appiah:

The two have agreed and we are working together to ensure that

Bernard Appiah:

they could make that happen.

Motto Nganda:

It can be a bit challenging when you're trying to not just bring in

Motto Nganda:

structural changes to be able to manage sickle cell disease better, but also

Motto Nganda:

changing the behaviour of healthcare practitioners or healthcare professionals,

Motto Nganda:

to be able to perform better in terms of maybe patient reception,

Motto Nganda:

managing stigma and things like that.

Motto Nganda:

So sometimes we do have um, pushbacks.

Motto Nganda:

It does take time for people to adapt but we just keep going.

Motto Nganda:

We never relent and we make sure that we get to the point.

Motto Nganda:

And the second aspect is though you said 'just', researchers 'just' produce

Motto Nganda:

outputs, I think producing outputs is really vital and very challenging.

Motto Nganda:

This is a multi-country project and a lot of data is being collected, using various

Motto Nganda:

different methods, and I think for us to sit down and be able to draft all of these

Motto Nganda:

outputs, whether to be used for physical dissemination or peer review publications

Motto Nganda:

or policy briefs, it's very challenging to choose what content to really put

Motto Nganda:

where that will get to the best audience.

Motto Nganda:

Dr. Kim Ozano: Okay.

Motto Nganda:

So it sounds like learning is happening all the time.

Motto Nganda:

So, I'm gonna flip it now and thinking about advice for others

Motto Nganda:

that want to strengthen capacity within research programmes, what

Motto Nganda:

piece of advice would you give?

Reuben Chianumba:

They should think big.

Reuben Chianumba:

Don't think anything is impossible.

Reuben Chianumba:

When you think big, you should go into the field and then try.

Reuben Chianumba:

Sometimes you just need to show someone what's the impact of what you want to do,

Reuben Chianumba:

and then the person will influence change.

Reuben Chianumba:

Don't think nothing is impossible.

Reuben Chianumba:

So that would my, that would be my advice.

Reuben Chianumba:

Dr. Kim Ozano: Think big and think possible.

Bernard Appiah:

A very important theme that especially came up

Bernard Appiah:

in the three countries from journalists is carry us along.

Bernard Appiah:

They are telling researchers, carry us along.

Bernard Appiah:

Typically, researchers just invite journalists to come and cover events

Bernard Appiah:

at the beginning, and then towards the end when they're disseminating.

Bernard Appiah:

This time, the journalists say they want to be part of the process.

Bernard Appiah:

So, any stakeholder that you want to involve in such project, it is

Bernard Appiah:

important you involve them early and you keep working with them

Bernard Appiah:

till the very end and even after.

Bernard Appiah:

Dr. Kim Ozano: So, don't just engage at the beginning or just at the end

Bernard Appiah:

all the way through the programme to make sure everybody's on the same

Bernard Appiah:

page and has the same aspirations.

Bernard Appiah:

Yes.

Bernard Appiah:

Dr. Kim Ozano: Fantastic.

Bernard Appiah:

Take us home with one piece of advice Motto, please.

Motto Nganda:

I think Bernard has really said what was really bubbling

Motto Nganda:

in my mind to say, which is at the start of your project, actively

Motto Nganda:

include capacity-strengthening from the beginning, and then collaboration,

Motto Nganda:

co-creating the capacity training needs and activities or interventions.

Motto Nganda:

Because when you collaborate with the team from the beginning to the

Motto Nganda:

end, you are building a system of sustained interventions where teams

Motto Nganda:

and individuals pick up or embed key components of that capacity-strengthening

Motto Nganda:

within your routine systems.

Motto Nganda:

Dr. Kim Ozano: Fabulous.

Motto Nganda:

So, really bringing home that co-creation, moving together,

Motto Nganda:

think big for sustainability and longevity throughout the process.

Motto Nganda:

Well, listeners, that brings us to the end of this second episode in our miniseries

Motto Nganda:

on research capacity-strengthening.

Motto Nganda:

Today, we heard how inclusive approaches spanning clinicians,

Motto Nganda:

journalists, programme managers, and communities can help bridge the know-do

Motto Nganda:

gap and support more sustainable people-centred health systems.

Motto Nganda:

In the final episode of the series coming up soon, we'll turn our attention

Motto Nganda:

to the next generation of researchers hearing from PhD candidates across the

Motto Nganda:

PACTS programme about the realities of progressing a doctoral journey while

Motto Nganda:

contributing to health systems change.

Motto Nganda:

So, if you found this episode valuable, please take a moment

Motto Nganda:

to subscribe, rate, and review on your preferred podcast platform.

Motto Nganda:

It really helps us to reach more listeners and grow these important discussions.

Motto Nganda:

You can also find us on LinkedIn at the Stop, Collaborate, and Listen Agency

Motto Nganda:

and on X at podcast underscore CCS.

Motto Nganda:

And on Blue Sky at CCS podcast.

Motto Nganda:

You will find here updates, conversations, and new episode releases.

Motto Nganda:

Until next time, stay curious, stay engaged, and let's continue challenging

Motto Nganda:

the systems that shape global health.

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About the Podcast

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Connecting Citizens to Science
Researchers and scientists join with communities and people to address global challenges

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About your host

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Kim Ozano

Research and Development Director at SCL and co-founder and host of the ‘Connecting Citizens to Science’ (CCS) podcast. Kim is a health policy and systems researcher with over 15 years’ experience of designing, delivering and evaluating health and development projects in the Global South and UK. She is an implementation health research specialist, as can be seen from her publications and work at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, where she remains an Honorary lecturer.
Kim creates space in Connecting Citizens to Science for researchers and communities to share their experience of co-production to shape policy and lasting positive change.