The third WHO-TDR funded research capacity strengthening workshop for 2014 was completed at Atoifi Hospital last week. For three days community leaders, chiefs, hospital and College of Nursing staff and students worked to improve their data analysis and writing skills for health research. Based on the practical ‘learn-by-doing’ approach, research leaders assisted workshop participants to manually design a database that could be imported into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Descriptive statistics were then calculated and interpreted. Participants then practiced writing up a research report, continuing the ‘learn-by-doing’ approach.
Consistent with the two-way capacity strengthening model, Professor Rick Speare, Director of Tropical Health Solutions and Emeritus Professor at James Cook University, explained he also learned new skills during the workshop. “I learnt new ways to teach Excel”, Rick explained. “Previously the mechanics of using Excel have got in the way of the concepts of what one is actually achieving. During this workshop, we asked participants to draw a spreadsheet manually on a large piece if butcher’s paper. Once everyone understood the process, we entered the data into the electronic spreadsheet. We did this as a group by projecting the spreadsheet. I also asked everyone to recite the formulas as they were entered. I was amazed at how successful this approach was! ”
The group then took the descriptive statistics generated by Excel and turned them immediately into the first paragraph of the Results section in a Word document. Being able to see the direct transformation from questionnaire responses to Excel to a paragraph in the Results was an eye opener for everyone, including the facilitators!
Atoifi Adventist Hospital is now battling a measles outbreak in East Kwaio. They have initiated a line listing and cases are being entered into Excel. This will improve monitoring by allowing cases to be counted and the outbreak quantified as it progresses. The outbreak curve can be used to judge success of control efforts.
On November 20, a research symposium will be held at Atoifi, where participants from the research capacity strengthening program, will share research findings with the community, Hospital leaders, Provincial and national health officials.
Photo (L-R): Mr Humpress Harrington, Mrs Helen Polosovai, Eileen Otuana, J. Ri’imana and Tommy Esau work with Professor Rick Speare to manually construct a spreadsheet.
