Strengthening post-graduate educational capacity for health policy and systems research and analysis: the strategy of the Consortium for Health Policy and Systems Analysis in Africa

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dc.contributor.authorErasmus, Ermin
dc.contributor.authorLehmann, Uta
dc.contributor.authorAgyepong, Irene A
dc.contributor.authorAlwar, John
dc.contributor.authorde Savigny, Don
dc.contributor.authorKamuzora, Peter
dc.contributor.authorMirzoev, Tolib
dc.contributor.authorNxumalo, Nonhlanhla
dc.contributor.authorTomson, Göran
dc.contributor.authorUzochukwu, Benjamin
dc.contributor.authorGilson, Lucy
dc.date.accessioned2016-05-23T08:31:34Z
dc.date.available2016-05-23T08:31:34Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.date.updated2016-05-19T09:26:19Z
dc.description.abstractBackground: The last 5–10 years have seen significant international momentum build around the field of health policy and systems research and analysis (HPSR + A). Strengthening post-graduate teaching is seen as central to the further development of this field in low- and middle-income countries. However, thus far, there has been little reflection on and documentation of what is taught in this field, how teaching is carried out, educators’ challenges and what future teaching might look like. Methods: Contributing to such reflection and documentation, this paper reports on a situation analysis and inventory of HPSR + A post-graduate teaching conducted among the 11 African and European partners of the Consortium for Health Policy and Systems Analysis in Africa (CHEPSAA), a capacity development collaboration. A first questionnaire completed by the partners collected information on organisational teaching contexts, while a second collected information on 104 individual courses (more in-depth information was subsequently collected on 17 of the courses). The questionnaires yielded a mix of qualitative and quantitative data, which were analysed through counts, cross-tabulations, and the inductive grouping of material into themes. In addition, this paper draws information from internal reports on CHEPSAA’s activities, as well as its external evaluation. Results: The analysis highlighted the fluid boundaries of HPSR + A and the range and variability of the courses addressing the field, the important, though not exclusive, role of schools of public health in teaching relevant material, large variations in the time investments required to complete courses, the diversity of student target audiences, the limited availability of distance and non-classroom learning activities, and the continued importance of old-fashioned teaching styles and activities. Conclusions: This paper argues that in order to improve post-graduate teaching and continue to build the field of HPSR + A, key questions need to be addressed around educational practice issues such as the time allocated for HPSR + A courses, teaching activities, and assessments, whether HPSR + A should be taught as a cross-cutting theme in post-graduate degrees or an area of specialisation, and the organisation of teaching given the multi-disciplinary nature of the field. It ends by describing some of CHEPSAA’s key post-graduate teaching development activities and how these activities have addressed the key questions.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationErasmus, E., Lehmann, U., Agyepong, I. A., Alwar, J., de Savigny, D., Kamuzora, P., ... Gilson, L. (2016). Strengthening post-graduate educational capacity for health policy and systems research and analysis: the strategy of the Consortium for Health Policy and Systems Analysis in Africa. <i>Health Research Policy and Systems</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19771en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationErasmus, Ermin, Uta Lehmann, Irene A Agyepong, John Alwar, Don de Savigny, Peter Kamuzora, Tolib Mirzoev, et al "Strengthening post-graduate educational capacity for health policy and systems research and analysis: the strategy of the Consortium for Health Policy and Systems Analysis in Africa." <i>Health Research Policy and Systems</i> (2016) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19771en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationErasmus, E., Lehmann, U., Agyepong, I. A., Alwar, J., de Savigny, D., Kamuzora, P., ... & Gilson, L. (2016). Strengthening post-graduate educational capacity for health policy and systems research and analysis: the strategy of the Consortium for Health Policy and Systems Analysis in Africa. Health Research Policy and Systems, 14(1), 1.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1478-4505en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Erasmus, Ermin AU - Lehmann, Uta AU - Agyepong, Irene A AU - Alwar, John AU - de Savigny, Don AU - Kamuzora, Peter AU - Mirzoev, Tolib AU - Nxumalo, Nonhlanhla AU - Tomson, Göran AU - Uzochukwu, Benjamin AU - Gilson, Lucy AB - Background: The last 5–10 years have seen significant international momentum build around the field of health policy and systems research and analysis (HPSR + A). Strengthening post-graduate teaching is seen as central to the further development of this field in low- and middle-income countries. However, thus far, there has been little reflection on and documentation of what is taught in this field, how teaching is carried out, educators’ challenges and what future teaching might look like. Methods: Contributing to such reflection and documentation, this paper reports on a situation analysis and inventory of HPSR + A post-graduate teaching conducted among the 11 African and European partners of the Consortium for Health Policy and Systems Analysis in Africa (CHEPSAA), a capacity development collaboration. A first questionnaire completed by the partners collected information on organisational teaching contexts, while a second collected information on 104 individual courses (more in-depth information was subsequently collected on 17 of the courses). The questionnaires yielded a mix of qualitative and quantitative data, which were analysed through counts, cross-tabulations, and the inductive grouping of material into themes. In addition, this paper draws information from internal reports on CHEPSAA’s activities, as well as its external evaluation. Results: The analysis highlighted the fluid boundaries of HPSR + A and the range and variability of the courses addressing the field, the important, though not exclusive, role of schools of public health in teaching relevant material, large variations in the time investments required to complete courses, the diversity of student target audiences, the limited availability of distance and non-classroom learning activities, and the continued importance of old-fashioned teaching styles and activities. Conclusions: This paper argues that in order to improve post-graduate teaching and continue to build the field of HPSR + A, key questions need to be addressed around educational practice issues such as the time allocated for HPSR + A courses, teaching activities, and assessments, whether HPSR + A should be taught as a cross-cutting theme in post-graduate degrees or an area of specialisation, and the organisation of teaching given the multi-disciplinary nature of the field. It ends by describing some of CHEPSAA’s key post-graduate teaching development activities and how these activities have addressed the key questions. DA - 2016 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1186/s12961-016-0097-0 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - Health Research Policy and Systems KW - Capacity development KW - CHEPSAA KW - Course review KW - Health policy and systems research and analysis KW - Lowand middle-income countries KW - Post-graduate KW - Teaching LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2016 SM - 1478-4505 T1 - Strengthening post-graduate educational capacity for health policy and systems research and analysis: the strategy of the Consortium for Health Policy and Systems Analysis in Africa TI - Strengthening post-graduate educational capacity for health policy and systems research and analysis: the strategy of the Consortium for Health Policy and Systems Analysis in Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19771 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12961-016-0097-0
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/19771
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationErasmus E, Lehmann U, Agyepong IA, Alwar J, de Savigny D, Kamuzora P, et al. Strengthening post-graduate educational capacity for health policy and systems research and analysis: the strategy of the Consortium for Health Policy and Systems Analysis in Africa. Health Research Policy and Systems. 2016; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19771.en_ZA
dc.languageengen_ZA
dc.language.rfc3066en
dc.publisherBioMed Centralen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentHealth Policy and Systems Divisionen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)*
dc.rights.holderErasmus et al.
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_ZA
dc.sourceHealth Research Policy and Systemsen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://health-policy-systems.biomedcentral.com/
dc.subjectCapacity development
dc.subjectCHEPSAA
dc.subjectCourse review
dc.subjectHealth policy and systems research and analysis
dc.subjectLowand middle-income countries
dc.subjectPost-graduate
dc.subjectTeaching
dc.titleStrengthening post-graduate educational capacity for health policy and systems research and analysis: the strategy of the Consortium for Health Policy and Systems Analysis in Africaen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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