Research that influences policy and practice – characteristics of operational research to improve malaria control in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa
Abstract Background Much communicable disease control research has had little impact on local control programme policy and practice for want of an operational component. The operational research model – the systematic search for knowledge on interventions, tools or strategies that enhance programme...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b2c7f3f2987446e984a1e248022d6d35 2023-05-15T15:11:07+02:00 Research that influences policy and practice – characteristics of operational research to improve malaria control in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa Speare Richard Harries Anthony D Durrheim David N 2002-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-1-9 https://doaj.org/article/b2c7f3f2987446e984a1e248022d6d35 EN eng BMC http://www.malariajournal.com/content/1/1/9 https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-1-9 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/b2c7f3f2987446e984a1e248022d6d35 Malaria Journal, Vol 1, Iss 1, p 9 (2002) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 article 2002 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-1-9 2022-12-31T08:43:00Z Abstract Background Much communicable disease control research has had little impact on local control programme policy and practice for want of an operational component. The operational research model – the systematic search for knowledge on interventions, tools or strategies that enhance programme effectiveness – is gaining recognition as an appropriate method for addressing perplexing questions within public health programmes. Methods A series of operational research studies were conducted to refine malaria diagnosis in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa between 1995 and 1999. The grounded theory approach was used with groups of experienced Masters of Public Health students in South Africa and Australia to analyse a compilation of these studies for determining positive and negative attributes of operational research that affect its ability to influence communicable disease control policy and practice. Results The principal positive attributes of the operational research studies were high local relevance, greater ability to convince local decision-makers, relatively short lag-time before implementation of findings, and the cost-effective nature of this form of research. Potential negative features elicited included opportunities forfeited by using scarce resources to conduct research and the need to adequately train local health staff in research methodology to ensure valid results and accurate interpretation of findings. Conclusions Operational research effectively influenced disease control policy and practice in rural South Africa, by providing relevant answers to local questions and engaging policy-makers. This resulted in accelerated inclusion of appropriate measures into a local communicable disease control programme. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Malaria Journal 1 1 9 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Speare Richard Harries Anthony D Durrheim David N Research that influences policy and practice – characteristics of operational research to improve malaria control in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
description |
Abstract Background Much communicable disease control research has had little impact on local control programme policy and practice for want of an operational component. The operational research model – the systematic search for knowledge on interventions, tools or strategies that enhance programme effectiveness – is gaining recognition as an appropriate method for addressing perplexing questions within public health programmes. Methods A series of operational research studies were conducted to refine malaria diagnosis in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa between 1995 and 1999. The grounded theory approach was used with groups of experienced Masters of Public Health students in South Africa and Australia to analyse a compilation of these studies for determining positive and negative attributes of operational research that affect its ability to influence communicable disease control policy and practice. Results The principal positive attributes of the operational research studies were high local relevance, greater ability to convince local decision-makers, relatively short lag-time before implementation of findings, and the cost-effective nature of this form of research. Potential negative features elicited included opportunities forfeited by using scarce resources to conduct research and the need to adequately train local health staff in research methodology to ensure valid results and accurate interpretation of findings. Conclusions Operational research effectively influenced disease control policy and practice in rural South Africa, by providing relevant answers to local questions and engaging policy-makers. This resulted in accelerated inclusion of appropriate measures into a local communicable disease control programme. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Speare Richard Harries Anthony D Durrheim David N |
author_facet |
Speare Richard Harries Anthony D Durrheim David N |
author_sort |
Speare Richard |
title |
Research that influences policy and practice – characteristics of operational research to improve malaria control in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa |
title_short |
Research that influences policy and practice – characteristics of operational research to improve malaria control in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa |
title_full |
Research that influences policy and practice – characteristics of operational research to improve malaria control in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa |
title_fullStr |
Research that influences policy and practice – characteristics of operational research to improve malaria control in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa |
title_full_unstemmed |
Research that influences policy and practice – characteristics of operational research to improve malaria control in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa |
title_sort |
research that influences policy and practice – characteristics of operational research to improve malaria control in mpumalanga province, south africa |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-1-9 https://doaj.org/article/b2c7f3f2987446e984a1e248022d6d35 |
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Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Malaria Journal, Vol 1, Iss 1, p 9 (2002) |
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http://www.malariajournal.com/content/1/1/9 https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-1-9 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/b2c7f3f2987446e984a1e248022d6d35 |
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https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-1-9 |
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Malaria Journal |
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9 |
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