Strategy and time frame for Consortium-supported staff and organisational development activities

 
 
 
 
 

Project title	Consortium for Health Policy & Systems Analysis in Africa
Project acronym	CHEPSAA
Project number	265482
Instrument	Co-ordination (or networking) actions
Thematic priority	HEALTH.2010.3.4-3
Work package no.	2
Deliverable no.	D2.1
Due date of deliverable	15
Actual submission date	August 2012
Version	Final
Lead institution for this deliverable	University of the Western Cape
Dissemination level	Public

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

THE CHEPSAA PROJECT

The development of sustained African health policy and systems research and teaching capacity requires the consolidation and strengthening of relevant research and educational programmes as well as the development of stronger engagement between the policy and research communities. The Consortium for Health Policy and Systems Analysis in Africa (CHEPSAA) will address both of these issues over the period 2011 - 2015.   

CHEPSAA’s goal is to extend sustainable African capacity to produce and use high quality health policy and systems research by harnessing synergies among a Consortium of African and European universities with relevant expertise. This goal will be reached through CHEPSAA’s five work packages:

1. assessing the capacity development needs of the African members and national policy networks;
2. supporting the development of African researchers and educators;
3. strengthening courses of relevance to health policy and systems research and analysis;
4. strengthening networking among the health policy and systems education, research and policy communities and strengthening the process of getting research into policy and practice;
5. project management and knowledge management.

 

The CHEPSAA project is led by Lucy Gilson (Professor: University of Cape Town & London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine). 

PARTNERS

• Health Policy & Systems Programme within the Health Economics Unit, University of Cape Town, South Africa
• School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
• Centre for Health Policy, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
• Institute of Development Studies, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
• Tropical Institute of Community Health, Great Lakes University of Kisumu, Kenya
• College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Enugu, Nigeria
• London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom
• Nuffield Centre for International Health and Development, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
• Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
• Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, University of Basel, Switzerland

 

CHEPSAA WEBSITE

www.hpsa-africa.org 

Acknowledgements

Thanks to all CHEPSAA partners for their contributions. 

Suggested citation

CHEPSAA. 2012. Strategy and time frame for Consortium-supported staff and organisational development activities. University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Cape Town, Consortium for Health Policy & Systems Analysis in Africa

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT

Contact Professor Uta Lehmann, email: ulehmann@uwc.ac.za 

This document is an output from a project funded by the European Commission (EC) FP7-Africa (Grant no. 265482). The views expressed are not necessarily those of the EC.

 

CHEPSAA. 2012. Strategy and time frame for Consortium-supported staff and organisational development activities. University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Cape Town, Consortium for Health Policy & Systems Analysis in Africa             is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.5 License  August 2012  You are free:   to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work   to Remix – to adapt the work Under the following conditions:   Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor  (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work)   Non-commercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes   Share Alike. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work but only under the same or similar license to this one For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. One  way to do this is with a link to the license web page: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/za    Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder. Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the authors’ moral rights. Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the rights of authors whose work is referenced in this document. Cited works used in this document must be cited following usual academic conventions Citation of this work must follow normal academic conventions Source work available at http://www.hpsa-africa.org/index.php/resources/chepsaa-outputs2 Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.healthedu.uct.ac.za or contact healthoer@uct.ac.za We would appreciate your feedback for this Open Educational Resource (OER), by completing this form. Alternatively, you can email us at healthoer@uct.ac.za

 

1. Introduction

This document presents deliverable one of the second work package of the project (WP2), constituting the Strategy and time frame for Consortium-supported staff and organisational development activities which emanate from the HPSR&A assets and needs assessment in partner institutions and countries conducted in work package 1 (WP1) and the capacity development plans developed by partner organisations.

It will briefly outline CHEPSAA’s conceptual approaches to and understanding of capacity and capacity development and then summarise the key findings of the assets and capacity needs assessments of African partner organisations. This is followed by the principles and criteria CHEPSAA adopted to identify and prioritise capacity development strategies and its planned activities and time frames. We also briefly outline how we will approach the monitoring and evaluation of strategy implementation and outcomes. Individual partner organisations’ capacity development plans can be found in the annex.

 

2. Conceptual underpinnings of how we understand capacity development

Derrick Brinkerhoff and Peter Morgan noted in a recent paper that “exploring capacity can have an Alice-in-Wonderland feel: different definitions and models inhabit disjunctive realities where underlying assumptions are neither obvious nor transferrable. (…) Given the breadth and vagueness of the analytic territory, it is not surprising that, as a topic for study and an intervention strategy, the literature on capacity and CD is voluminous and disparate, and mixes empirical and normative perspectives” (Brinkerhoff and Morgan, 2010: 2). However, recent work, particularly by Peter Morgan (2005, 2010), Heather Baser (2008), Derrick Brinkerhoff (2010) and Alfredo Ortiz Aragon (2010), has made strides towards greater conceptual clarity of the capacity concept, and towards addressing capacity development not as an individual but a systems phenomenon.

In particular Peter Morgan (2005: 12) has argued the importance of systems thinking to the conceptualization of capacity development: “Virtually all the systems thinking literature points to the importance of learning as a way to improve systems capacity and performance. (…) Connected to the issue of learning is the idea and practice of feedback, another concept central to systems thinking”.

For the needs assessment conducted in WP1, which provided the basis for the development of organizational capacity development plans, CHEPSAA partners found Potter and Brough’s capacity pyramid (see Figure 1) useful, which distinguishes four groups of interrelated elements of capacity: a) structures, systems and roles; b) staff and infrastructure; c) skills; d) tools. Each subsequent component enables the effective use of a subsequent one and builds on the previous (Potter and Brough, 2004). 

The different dimensions of capacity are engaged in complex interrelationships and each can represent a constraint or an opportunity for effective development of capacity at the other levels.  For example, structures and roles within an organisation are dependent on the available skills mix and tools are interrelated with existing infrastructure and systems. 
 
 
 
 
 

Figure 1: Capacity Pyramid

Source: (Potter and Brough, 2004 p.340)

Structures, Systems and Roles

Staff and Infrastructure

Skills, Expertise

Tools

enable  

effective  

use of …

require…

 

When 4 dimensions of capacity are brought together with the capacity pyramid, they can help guide a strategy for assessing capacity needs in different fields.

CHEPSAA works with an understanding of capacity development, which takes its departure from an emphasis on the inter-relationship of systemic, organizational and individual capacity as outlined above, and which emphasizes learning, emergence, context and relationships (Morgan, 2005; Baser and Morin, 2008). The following concepts are central to this discussion and will be used in the Consortium’s work:

• “Individual competencies—the skills, mindsets and motivations of individuals. (…). The competencies concerned would include both ‘hard’ skills such as technical, financial and logistic as well as the ‘soft’ ones such as generating leadership, loyalty and legitimacy, awareness raising and building inter- personal relationships.
• Collective capabilities—the identifiable abilities that a group (…) had to develop to manage the reform programme. These could include managing change, creating an internal culture of performance, coordinating government-wide actions and maintaining political support for reform. (…).
• Capacity—the overall ability of an organization (…) to support the design and management of the reform process. This ability includes combining and integrating the competencies and capabilities into a functioning system. Some aspects of such a ‘capacitated’ system would be legitimacy, relevance, accomplishment of mandates, resilience and sustainability.
• Capacity development—the process of change, both intentional and emergent, that is intended to improve the overall ability or capacity of an organization or system” (Morgan, Baser and Morin, 2010: 28).

The inter-relationship between individual competencies, collective capabilities and organizational capacity has informed the development of organizational capacity development plans by CHEPSAA partners, and the development of an overall CHEPSAA capacity development plan, founded on WP1’s assessment of organizational assets and needs.

 

3.  Phase 1 of the CHEPSAA project: assets and needs assessment

The first phase of the project (WP1) focused on the assessment of the capacity assets and needs in the seven African partner institutions. The summary assets and needs assessment report and the individual institutional reports can be found on the CHEPSAA website (http://www.HPSR&A-africa.org/index.php/resources/chepsaa-outputs2).

 

Assets and needs assessment – key findings

Findings from the assets and needs assessment clustered around six areas, as in Table1 below.

Table 1: Summary of comparative findings of assessment of assets and needs of African CHEPSAA partners

Topic	Key findings	Implications for further WP planning
Leadership & Governance	1. A vision for HPSR&A exists in many institutions, which is informed by these institutions’ wider contexts. Leadership and governance are therefore influenced by: the wider institution’s purpose; the partner’s position within the wider institution. Structures and processes to support HPSR&A exist (even where there is lack of clear HPSR&A vision); Different organisational structures for decision-making; and Consultative processes to decision-making 2. HPSR&A ‘champions’ exist but there are challenges in succession planning	It is important to have a clear and shared vision for HPSR&A, drawing on: shared conceptual understanding of HPSR&A; and institutional context especially where HPSR&A is not the primary purpose We suggest a clear link between HPSR&A vision and the wider institutional vision is necessary We suggest consistency between the HPSR&A vision, organisational structures and activities to support HPSR&A is important, and CHEPSAA activities should seek greater alignment. Succession planning and the nurturing of new generations of HPSR&A researchers and teachers have to be priorities for CHEPSAA activities.
Overview of HPSR&A Research	All partners are actively engaged in HPSR&A research (3-11 projects each). The multi-disciplinarity of HPSR&A leads to uncertainty as to the precise identity of the field and its training and research needs and foci, which in turn weakens its profile compared to disciplinary areas with a “neater” disciplinary paradigm. All HPSR&A is heavily reliant on external, mostly international, funding, and research priorities are therefore often defined by international funding priorities.	There is an opportunity for engagement and lobbying for prioritisation of HPSR&A with government and donors through the CHEPSAA project.
Demand for HPSR&A Research & Teaching	There is a growing (but still limited) demand for HPSR&A research and teaching. Government funding for HPSR&A teaching; donor funding for HPSR&A research. Uncoordinated Govt-Donor-Academic research priorities for HPSR&A. Students’ positive feedback of HPSR&A teaching process but they may graduate without a clear grasp of the discipline.	Assessing and influencing priority-setting for research and particularly HPSR&A research in different contexts and at different levels will be useful. There is value in exploring how HPSR&A research and teaching can be mutually supportive and beneficial. We suggest exploring the reasons for some HPSR&A teaching to be rated as below-average.
Communication, Networking, Getting Research into Policy and Practice (GRIPP)	There exist a range of GRIPP mechanisms, though experiences differ of their usefulness and sustainability. Partners are part of multiple research networks with different purposes and at different levels. Partners identified a difficulty in translating outputs for different users of research. Very importantly, no HPSR&A teaching networks were identified.	CHEPSAA can be seen as a HPSR&A teaching as well as a research network, and has an opportunity to address an important gap in HPSR&A&R capacity development. There is an opportunity to use GRIPP actions to align research and teaching activities to influence prioritisation of HPSR&A research. We can draw upon a wealth of understanding of donor and government contexts through our mature HPSR&A students.
Resources  (Finance, HR, Infrastructure)	Different institutions have different levels of significant staff shortages; greater contract stability of existing staff in West Africa. Different income patterns, including from external funding. Limited uptake of available staff training and support for HPSR&A research and teaching across partners (reasons less clear). Infrastructural constraints in East/West Africa, but not in South Africa.	Explore ways to achieve higher cost recovery as well as identify and obtain complementary funding sources. Work to ensure gender balance in HPSR&A e.g. how women gain status and prestige in patriarchal cultures. Assess the reasons for low uptake of career development and other continuous professional development opportunities. Address the balance of research and administration/support staff in relation to grant management, given the high workload on senior academics. Seek to make use of wider institutional resource frameworks for infrastructure development for HPSR&A.
HPSR&A Research (only) Quality Assurance (QA)	A range of QA processes for HPSR are in place in different institutions. QA largely takes place at three stages of HPSR (proposal, process, output), with most attention on the proposal and output stages. And QA takes place primarily at two levels: internal processes in each institution, and external structures, such as National Health Research Ethics Committees. Furthermore, specific approaches exist within each CHEPSAA partner.	The consortium can learn from different examples of institutionalising QA in the research process. The project provides an opportunity to develop mechanisms for QA of HPSR&A processes in the form of a QA guide. The consortium can reflect on what would be appropriate QA of research output for HPSR&A given its specific purpose of influencing national health policy. The project can provide an opportunity to make internal review processes within CHEPSAA partner institutions more sensitive to and relevant for HPSR. Institutional and national ethics committees could be targeted in networking and GRIPP activities in order to ensure that ethics boards and process are HPSR&A friendly and relevant.

Wider Implications

In conducting the comparative analysis the assessment identified some themes for further CHEPSAA planning which cut across individual topics:

• A clear message from the needs assessment is that CHEPSAA partners have significant strengths. Substantial research, teaching and GRIPP already take place. All teams have a variety of assets and are actively using these to build health policy and systems research within their own institution. Teams have a foundation of existing processes and approaches that can be built on. The country partners have different and hence valuable experiences to share with each other.
• A key implication for WP planning is therefore that CHEPSAA should take advantage of these existing assets rather than seek to create something new. We should make best use of our existing strengths within each partner and within the consortium. We therefore envisage that a core task for the CHEPSAA consortium could be to reflect on, brainstorm, and experiment with methods that can align and integrate these assets so that they synergistically support each other instead of working independently.
• Furthermore, cross-partner sharing and learning (e.g. in methodology, content/experiences) across all WP activities over the next 3 years will provide a valuable opportunity for substantive field building.

The WP1 assessment provided the basis for the project’s subsequent work in the areas of organisation and individual capacity strengthening (WP2), curriculum development (WP3), and Networking and GRIPP (Getting Research into Policy and Practice) (WP4). 

 

The findings of WP1 informed planning for other work packages, which was started during the Consortium’s second annual meeting in March 2012.  

 

4. Developing organisational and individual capacity

WP2 focuses on the development of the individual and organisational capacity of partner institutions and their staff members to build the field of HPSR&A. The objectives of this work package are to develop an enabling organisational environment for, and the skills and confidence of staff, in:

1. conducting and communicating health policy and systems research;

2. educational methods to deliver health policy and systems courses; and

3. broader areas of research and educational delivery and support

Given its location within the CHEPSAA project framework, WP2 is primarily inward looking: aiming to enhance CHEPSAA partners’ own capacity (in HPS thinking, research methodology, educational practice) to then build, grow, and communicate beyond their organisations through:

• Building and profiling the field;
• Building a community of practice;
• Research and teaching practice.

 

5. CHEPSAA criteria and principles for identifying and prioritising capacity development activities

As we agreed that there is an ongoing and continuous need to prioritise activities, in the Johannesburg March 2012 annual meeting CHEPSAA partners discussed and agreed a set of principles, criteria and priorities which will guide capacity development planning for individuals, organisations, countries and the field broadly. We also distinguished between activities that will support the project and its partners but will not burden the project financially, and activities which will be funded through the CHEPSAA budget.

The following principles will guide the identification and prioritisation of staff and organisational capacity development activities by CHEPSAA partners:

• All partners will both draw on and contribute to CHEPSAA field-building activities.
• The strategy will build on identified priority needs.
• Country strategies will include both CHEPSAA-funded activities and activities funded from other sources.
• Colleagues who attend capacity development activities will agree to take emerging activities forward in their countries and organisations.

The following criteria were agreed upon to prioritise CHEPSAA-funded staff and organisational capacity development activities:

1. Given budget constraints joint activities will be prioritised over individual organisational activities
2. All (most) partners should have shared interest in the intention of the activity
3. The activity should have the potential of strengthening CHEPSAA and the wider field - in CHEPSAA partner’s countries
4. The activity holds opportunity to initiate other activities in countries/organisations (spin-offs, trickle-downs)
5. The envisaged activity should provide relative benefit (vis-à-viss cost = “value for money”)
6. Activities should be feasible within time frame, other work loads etc.
7. Activities should have great potential to succeed

 

In the Johannesburg March 2012 annual meeting, CHEPSAA partners also identified the following broad areas of priority for staff and organisational capacity development activities to be undertaken within CHEPSAA in the coming years:

1. Field-building and profiling, both nationally and within partner organisations:
1. Increasing the visibility of the field (e.g. website; other networking activities)
2. Better understanding of  who works in the field, career profiles, and competencies required
3. Developing stronger networks of HPS researchers and practitioners
4. Succession planning of researchers and practitioners working in the field
5. Addressing organisational governance, including ethics procedures, funding allocations, HR and financial administration
6. Advocating for stable and increased funding for teaching and research and capacity to raise funds among national governments and within organisations
2. Teaching:
1. More and better courses in HPSR&A (including quality assurance of courses)
2. Increased and improved capacity to teach and supervise HPSR+A
3. Developing curricula, understanding pedagogies, writing learning materials
3. Better sharing and imparting of information, evidence, experiences, skills
1. Substantive aspects of HPSR+A
2. Pedagogy and curriculum development.
3. Ability to engage with bodies within universities, government departments, and funders
4. Learning to write funding proposals
5. Learning to network
6. Learning to coach and mentor
4. Research:
1. Developing research skills (at different levels, in different specific areas)
2. Writing for publication (academic, policy briefs, etc.)

 

Within these broad areas, partners then developed their own capacity development plans, which were discussed, and revised and submitted as milestones of the project. These plans and the discussion of organisational, country and regional capacity needs formed the basis for this document, the Strategy and time frame for Consortium-supported staff and organisational development activities. Organisational plans will be reviewed on an annual basis.

 

6. Future staff and organisational capacity development activities to be taken forward through CHEPSAA

CHEPSAA partners will engage in three clusters of activities over the lifetime of the project, namely activities which strengthen the field both nationally and regionally; activities which will enhance HPSR&A activities in their respective organisations; and activities which will build the capacity of individual staff members within partner organisations, with a specific focus on developing the next generation of HPSR&A experts in Africa.

These activities will be pursued in three different modes:

1. Activities which will be jointly conducted and funded through CHEPSAA WP2 resources;
2. Sharing existing and emerging experiences that address CHEPSAA priorities - conducted by individual organisations or in collaboration among a few partners, and funded outside CHEPSAA resources;
3. Sharing partner experience of CHEPSAA-initiated activities

The table below summarises these planned activities as emerging from CHEPSAA partners organisational development plans and from discussions at the second annual meeting in March 2012 (see annex 1 for a compilation of organisational activity plans across countries). These plans and activities will be reviewed and developed on an annual basis at the Consortium’s annual meetings.

	Joint staff and organisational capacity development activities (funded through WP2)	Shared outputs of relevance to CHEPSAA	Sharing experience of CHEPSAA-initiated activities
2012/13	Develop Introduction to HPS course curriculum Develop curriculum and materials development skills among CHEPSAA partners Develop cases for HPS teaching HPS knowledge and skills development (HPA course, UWC winter school)	Career and competency profiles (CHP) Documenting GRIPP good practice (COMUNEC) Sharing database of external examiners (UWC) Developing the business case for teaching (UCT/CHP) Load existing open access teaching materials onto CHEPSAA website (UCT) Document working relationship between MoH and SOPH; particular focus on dissertation process of MPH practice placements (UGSOPH) Construction and sharing of historical health systems case studies with retired senior decision makers in the health sector (UGSOPH) Write up/document experience with mentorship programme  (GLUK/TICH) Initiate discussion of specialist masters, providing outline and leading discussion at meeting next year (COMUNEC/IDS) Developing and sharing case studies for curriculum development (COMUNEC, SOPH-Ghana, IDS, CHP, TICH-GLUK, UCT, UWC, Leeds, STPHI)	Sharing experiences of mapping actors /national awareness-raising (all partners) Sharing experiences of networking activities nationally (all partners) Develop alumni networks (ongoing activity of all partners)
2013/14	Specific activities conducted during annual meeting Annual curriculum development activity (develop curriculum, develop skills, peer review) One young CHEPSAA skills development week in 2013 and 2014 Write-ups of TEACHING? cases and experiences Scope and begin to develop a shared doctoral programme (UCT/UGSOPH/UWC) Offering courses developed through CHEPSAA (e.g. Intro to HPS) to wider audience in and beyond partner countries	Experience in running short-course training programmes (UWC) Role of communications officer (UCT)  (others may be developed and agreed by partners at annual meeting)	Experiences of spreading curriculum development training in the organization Experience of strengthening own courses, drawing on CHEPSAA activities Experience of strengthening quality assurance mechanisms in institutions Sharing processes, outcomes and impacts of individual and organisational skills development activities, in particular for next generation of HPS academics and practitioners Share experiences of coaching and mentoring programmes (others may be developed and agreed by partners at annual meeting)
2014/15	Specific activities conducted during annual meeting Further curriculum development Offering courses developed through CHEPSAA (e.g. Intro to HPSR) to wider audience in and beyond partner countries Two young CHEPSAA skills development weeks in 2014-15 Staff exchanges and shared teaching Scoping and developing of shared doctoral programme at advanced stage (UCT/UWC/UGSOPH) Joining up alumni networks	(to be developed and agreed by partners at annual meeting)	(to be developed and agreed by partners at annual meeting)

 

These activities will be developed according to the principles and criteria agreed by all CHEPSAA partners as discussed under point 5 above.

Once activities have been agreed on and finalised, the lead partners for WP2 will coordinate the implementation of CHEPSAA-wide and joint activities, as well as ensure feedback, monitoring and review of other agreed capacity development activities. This will be an ongoing activity, with particular opportunities for discussion and review at the annual consortium meetings and other joint events.

 

7. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)

CHEPSAA’s approach to monitoring and evaluation reflects our conceptual understanding of capacity as a systems phenomenon in which individual, organisational and systems capacity are continuously inter-related, inter-dependent and emergent.

Here again we draw on the work of Morgan (2005: 23) who argues, “if capacity is an emergent property, it would have to be assessed as such. That would, in turn, mean less attention to individual elements”. He suggests that “M&E must do more than focus on technical outcomes. It must address itself to human issues including the modification of behavior, commitment, changes in values, beliefs and the reshaping of relationships. (…). M&E must contribute to collective learning at the systems level. It must increase the level of self-awareness” (Morgan, 2005: 24).

CHEPSAA’s M&E strategy is emerging and will be revisited and aligned over time. Taking on board lessons within and across work package activities, some of the M&E activities will encompass the following:

• tracking activities funded through CHEPSAA and those that spin off from the core activities;
• exploring the gains for the individuals involved in terms of, for example, initial gains in confidence, knowledge, skills, followed by gains in the development of teaching, research and networking activities;
• exploring the gains for the organisations involved in terms of, for example,  the development of teaching, research and networking activities, and relevant organisational gains such as in HR (e.g. retention of staff, succession planning) or financing;
• exploring the gains for the CHEPSAA network;
• exploring the pathways of effect across CHEPSAA–organisational partner–individual layers;
• analysis to test initial underlying assumptions about the pathways through which specific activities might generate which gains.

 

 

For this work package, we will ultimately explore whether and how the activities and strategies employed in WP2 will contribute to strengthening HPS research organisations’, individuals’ and networks’ capacity to develop HPSR&A research output, HPSR&A educational courses and effective HPSR&A policy influencing, in a sustained way.

 

8. References

Aragón, AO & Macedo, JC (2010), ‘A ‘Systemic Theories of Change’ Approach for Purposeful Capacity Development’, IDS Bulletin, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 87-99.

Baser, H and Morgan, P (2008), Capacity, Change and Performance, Discussion Paper No 59B, European Centre for Development Policy Management, Maastricht.

Brinkerhoff, DW and Morgan, PJ (2010), Capacity and Capacity Development: Coping with Complexity, Public Administration and Development, vol. 30, pp. 2–10.

Morgan P, Baser H & Morin D (2010). Developing capacity for managing public service reform: the Tanzania experience 2000–2008. Public Admin. Dev. 30, 27–37.

Morgan, P. (2005) The Idea and Practice of Systems Thinking and Their Relevance for Capacity Development, Maastricht: European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM).

Potter, C and Brough, R (2004), ‘Systemic capacity building: a hierarchy of needs’, Health Policy and Planning, vol.19, no. 5, pp. 336-345.

 

9. Annex: summary of organisational development plans

            

Table 3: Consortium-supported capacity development activities across countries
	Planned activity?	IDS	COMUNEC	SOPH/UGhana	TICH	HEU/UCT	CHP	SOPH/UWC
2012/13	Contribution to building/ strengthening/growing field in country/in Africa	To conduct awareness workshops on HPSR&A for policy makers within and outside the University   Training academic institutions on HPSR&A	Mapping of HPSR&A experts within the country  Developing and sharing case studies  Document good practices and share with partners, especially on GRIPP  Establishment of a CHEPSAA website link and active up-keep of the website	Construction of historical health systems case studies with retired senior decision makers in the health sector	Creating awareness to facilitate mainstreaming within and beyond GLUK   Inter-institutional faculty deans meeting  Develop a data base for HPSR&A personnel and alumni  Knowledge networks (TMP and conferences)	Co-teach Health Policy Analysis at UWC Winter School [SA collective activity]  Host a pre- conference session at the Public Health Association of South Africa conference (PHASA) towards building a community of practice in South Africa [SA collective activity]  Shared journal articles from the WP1 and WP3 findings in South African Health Review [SA collective activity]  Meeting / forum / seminar towards building a community of practice in the Western Cape [SA collective activity]  Contribute to the curriculum development process of an introductory &AR course for the CHEPSAA collective [CHEPSAA collective activity]  Load existing open access teaching material onto the CHEPSAA website [CHEPSAA Collective activity]  Regularly contributing to the CHEPSAA website in terms of  current research & other activities in South Africa [SA collective activity]  Sharing the business case for teaching – model used to estimate cost/benefit from teaching [CHEPSAA collective activity]  Contribute to the curriculum development process of an introductory HPSR&A course for the CHEPSAA collective [CHEPSAA collective activity]	Curriculum Development Host a pre- conference session at the Public Health Association of South Africa conference (PHASA) towards building a community of practice in South Africa [SA collective activity]  Shared journal articles from the WP1 and WP3 findings in South African Health Review [SA collective activity]	Co-teach Health Policy Analysis at UWC Winter School [SA collective activity]  Host a pre- conference session at the Public Health Association of South Africa conference (PHASA) towards building a community of practice in South Africa [SA collective activity]  Shared journal articles from the WP1 and WP3 findings in South African Health Review [SA collective activity]  Develop career and competency profiles  Building alumni network (ongoing activity over the project period)  Meeting / forum / seminar towards building a community of practice in the Western Cape [SA collective activity]  Contribute to the curriculum development process of an introductory HPSR course for the CHEPSAA collective [CHEPSAA collective activity]  Load existing open access teaching material onto the CHEPSAA website [CHEPSAA Collective activity]  Internal review of courses across South African universities [SA collective activity]
	Building capacity of organisations	Training on designing  curriculum & teaching materials	Identify core areas to teach  Establish and strengthen quality assurance mechanism that starts from research proposal stage through research process and output	Revision of HPPM 644 (Health Policy Analysis and Research: An introduction to Methods) using /applying the skills and materials from the Cape Town curriculum development workshop   To organize and run a 2 – 3 day curriculum development skills /designing teaching materials, mentoring and coaching others workshop for staff within the UG-SPH using the materials from the Cape Town curriculum development meeting  To use the curriculum development skills workshop to review and revise already existing core HPPM modules (609)	Curriculum /review and development   Quality assurance  Develop/collect case studies/CA tools	Host an internal HEU meeting to promote understanding of HPSR +A and r/ship to H/Economics. [UCT activity]  Supervisor workshops  Seminar presentation within the Faculty of Health Sciences on understanding the field of HPSR&A, in the noon meeting series  Focus on how we integrate IRHAP into health systems work in the HEU   Target individual deans as a CHEPSAA voice to build awareness of HPSR&A, also to strategically share information on WP1 findings as a case for building HPSR&A in your institution. Discuss the process and outcomes of this strategic engagement with your dean at the next workshop	Provide mentoring and training of newly appointed Grants, Operations and Development manager	Link SOPH website and HRH resources centre to CHEPSAA website  Develop external examiner data base
	Developing individuals’ skills	Training of two IDS staff  on HPSR&A	Step-down training on curriculum development  Build educational expertise of staff through specialist (MSc and PhD) training in HPSR&A related fields    Workshops on specific technical skills, especially writing grant proposals for HPSR&A  (HPSR&A writing retreat for staff of COMUNEC will include training in writing for grants and different types of publications)	Two staff members of the HPPM department (Kojo and Reuben) attend the 2012 Winter School to take the course on policy analysis   Two staff members (Irene and Genevive) attend the May curriculum development workshop and skills training in Cape Town   Two staff members (Justice Nonvignon and Augustine Adom Afari) attend AMREF Health Systems Strengthening course	Capacity building training (e.g. curriculum development, HPSR+A concepts and applications)   Writing publications	Attendance of HPSR&A staff at the curriculum development workshop for the course “Introduction to Health Policy Research and analysis”   Attending Health Policy Analysis course at UWC Winter School  Interested staff in the HEU get more exposure to the SA health system in the health districts	Writing retreat & writing month	One staff member attending curriculum development workshop for the course “Introduction to Health Policy Research and analysis”.  One staff member attending Health Policy Analysis course at UWC Winter School
2013/14	Building/strengthening/growing field	Short courses for policy makers, managers and academics	Building a community of practice  Contribute to development of a document on career and competency profile for people working in HPSR&A field  Active up-keep of the CHEPSAA website  Conducting and communicating HPSR&A	To start running an elective on Health Systems using the CHEPSAA open access curriculum being developed in the 2012/2013 academic year	Develop joint course in HPSR&A (Certificate Diploma)  Skills building short courses: *Research methodology *Policy advocacy *Resource mobilization & management *Writing for Publication *Quality assurance  Train TOT on HPSR&A	Work collaboratively in research across partners in South Africa [SA collective activity]  Shared case studies across the three SA partner universities [SA collective activity]  UCT can contribute information on “the role and functions of a communication officer” [CHEPSAA collective activity]  Internal review of courses across South African universities [SA collective activity]	South African symposium on HPSR&A Writing business cases for teaching posts	Offer SOME expertise in curriculum development, materials writing, distance learning pedagogy, writing of case studies  Document experience in developing and offering short courses, and impact  Shared case studies across the three SA partner universities [SA collective activity]  Work collaboratively in research across partners in South Africa [SA collective activity]
	Building capacity of organisation	Designing HPSR&A course at Masters Level	Review course curriculum on “Introduction to Health Systems” Peer evaluation of curriculum and teaching programmes    Develop course curriculum for certificate courses, diploma courses, and post-graduate courses - MSc and PhD, in HPSR&A	To design and run annual capacity building workshop on how to construct policy briefs, participate in policy dialogues and networking for UG-SPH and MOH staff and support to participants to develop and disseminate policy briefs  Develop a concentration in Monitoring and Evaluation option for the MPH	Skills building short courses: *Research methodology *Policy advocacy *Resource mobilization & management *Writing for publication *Quality Assurance  Joint Programs  Exchange programs  Develop a Masters course in HPSR&A  Train TOT on HPSR+A	Seminar presentation within other faculties at UCT on issues relevant to HPSR+A including for creating awareness of the field/ building inter disciplinary relationships etc.  Build an existing student network. Students in the MPH Health Systems track Possibly creating a network through the CHEPSAA website, a moderated blog perhaps  Build an HPSR&A Alumni network for MPH health systems track at UCT	Appointing honorary staff  PHD to PI; Leadership programme (while also supporting other levels of staff)
	Developing individuals’ skills	Training on how to deliver HSPA course Training on how  to write funding proposals	Staff exchanges for co-teaching of courses and joint supervision  with CHEPSAA partners  Build educational expertise of staff through specialist (MSc and PhD) training in HPSR&A related fields  Workshop/retreat  on specific HPSR&A technical skills especially: HPSR&A research skills Writing for publication   Staff attendance  and presentations at  HPSR&A related conferences	Capacity development Junior Sponsored for further studies in HPSR&A related courses Exchange programme  Senior Workshop Seminars Exchange programme	Exchange programs  Developing skills of  individual staff members in our organisation  Participation in relevant update seminars, update course   Writing publications	A variety of needed capacities were identified in the HEU by staff, they are as follows: Leadership including mentoring and coaching skills, Grantsmanship, protocol development, curriculum development, Teaching and networking skills	Teaching skills workshop (presentation skills, slide design,  facilitation skill and group management)	Continue to provide opportunity for staff members to attend courses and begin to co-teach on HSPS courses  Actively involve staff in HPS research activities and writing

 

2014/15	Building/strengthening/growing field	Short courses for policy makers, managers and academics	Building a community of practice  Short courses for policy makers and program managers  Conducting and communicating HPSR &A.	Development of a Masters in Health Economics Development of DRPH	Offer joint programs  Exchange programs	Staff exchange (North /South / South / South ) Ideas: Possibly host Hon. Professors who can serve as mentors. Could host visiting lecturers, staff exchanges etc. This idea still needs to be developed further [CHEPSAA collective activity]  Seek to engage in other thematic / discipline conferences and networks. To share activities of other networks/conference events (outside HSP, but where HSP is relevant, and might be a critical mass of CHEPSAA members present) [CHEPSAA collective activity]	Develop list of competencies for the field	Develop joint doctoral programme in HPSR&A
	Building capacity of organisations	Learning techniques for packaging research results and communicating results to decision makers	Peer evaluation of curricula and teaching programmes	M & E: Students Course modules Staff	Develop Masters, PhD course in HPSR&A/R   Skills building short courses: *Research methodology *Policy advocacy *Resource mobilization & management *Writing for publication *Quality Assurance  Joint Programs  Train TOT on HPSR+A	Internal UCT consolidation of HPSR&A; and SA collective activities will continue
	Developing individuals’ skills	Training on HPSR&A research methodology  Training on coaching and mentoring	Staff exchanges for co-teaching of courses and joint supervision  with CHEPSAA partners  Build educational expertise of staff through specialist (MSc and PhD) training in HPSR&A related fields  Conduct short courses and diploma courses in HPSR&A for staff of COMUNEC Practical experience of policy making and analysis  in form of internship for staff  Conduct short courses and diploma courses in HPSR&A for staff of COMUNEC		Exchange programs  Participation in relevant update seminars, update course   Writing publications	The aim is to continue focusing on the development of staff according to the needs identified in the needs assessment	Media training for researchers  Strengthening research methods and focusing on rigour	Continue to provide opportunity for staff members to attend courses and begin to co-teach on HSPS courses  Actively involve staff in HPS research activities and writing