Deadline: 20 June 2016
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), in collaboration with the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (AHPSR), is seeking concept notes for its Improving Health Programme Implementation through Embedded Research (iPIER), an inaugural initiative of embedded implementation research to support health programme.
The iPIER intervention focused on developing contextualized knowledge bases, convening dialogues, and strengthening capacity, in order to facilitate partnerships between researchers and research-users.
Objectives
- To support the improvement of existing health programmes, policies and systems in accordance with local settings;
- To provide insights on health system failures underlying the implementation barrier;
- To stimulate partnerships and build capacity of stakeholders in implementation research;
- To undergo an implementation research study to assess barriers and facilitators of programme/policy implementation;
- To reintegrate results found from implementation research study in order to improve the implementation of health programmes/policies;
- Provide insights to improve the performance of health systems and assess the impact of the iPIER model on implementation of health programmes/policies.
Programme Structure
The iPIER initiative follows a methodology to facilitate the use of implementation research as an embedded component of existing health programmes/policies:
- Following the selection of the iPIER grant recipients, country teams lead by a principle investigator as a decision-maker will develop a protocol to conduct implementation research. The iPIER approach places the decision-maker/implementer in the position of principal investigator and leader of research project. The protocol will be developed through a training workshop convened by the AHPSR, PAHO and a regional technical assistance centre. The protocol is required to be submitted and undergo ethical approval by the PAHO Ethical Review Committee and a local ethical review committee. The AHPSR and PAHO will work with the selected teams to refine the IR question and methodology and, as such, the protocol is likely to be modified during the course of thetraining.
- Subsequently, grantees will initiate data collection activities within their respective study sites. Following the collection of data, a second workshop will focus on data analysis and interpretation.
- The meeting will include training to build the grantees’ capacity to analyse the collected data and synthesize the results for the integration of findings into the decision making process.
- Technical assistance will be provided throughout the implementation research activities to ensure the production of valid and relevant research results and assist in the reintegration of results into the health programme.
Funding Information
It is anticipated awarding 7 grants of $25,000 – $30,000 (U.S. dollars).
Eligibility Criteria
- The principle investigator must be from public institutions from Latin America and/or Caribbean.
- Universities and private institutions are ineligible to apply as principle investigators.
- Funding should not be used to pay for additional staff within the programme.
- Funding might be used to cover the costs of some researchers’ time or data collection activities.
- Applicants will be required to submit an official letter of support from the institution that sponsors the project.
How to Apply
- Applicants are required to fill iPIER Application Form in order to apply.
- The proposals must be submitted via email with ‘Intuition Name_ Last name’ in the subject line.
Eligible Countries
Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Haiti, Suriname, The Bahamas, Guyana, Barbados, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
For more information, please visit PAHO.