Bridging the gap from academia to humanitarian project management

: 1.024_HRW Bridging the gap from academia to humanitarian project

Going Forward: Failure to gain full buy-in and utilize principles of the diffusion of innovation was compounded by the staff's cultural resistance to change, resulting in low levels of checklist utilization. We redesigned and simplified the checklist by removing non-essential items, and capitalized on appropriate use of color and design for improved legibility. We recommended it be displayed on multiple OR walls as a poster to increase visibility and ensure easy accessibility at all times. Additionally, we assigned ownership of separate parts of the checklist to different OR staff teams to create shared responsibility. Finally, we recommended the utilization of opinion leaders, regular data feedback, and auditing by OR management to improve compliance.

Funding: none
Abstract #: 1.024_HRW Bridging the gap from academia to humanitarian project management K. Delaney 1 , M. Gallagher 1 , P. Tenaglia 2 ; 1 Action Against Hunger, New York City, USA, 2 Action Against Hunger, Toronto, Canada Background: Humanitarian organizations continue to have numerous applicants from individuals with nutrition, public health, and nursing backgrounds. Individuals who qualify from an academic point of view; however, there exists a gap of both theoretical and practical knowledge on humanitarian programming in technical areas such as community assessment, international standards for humanitarian programming, core humanitarian principles, and project management skills. In the past five years, there has been a significant investment from a range of stakeholders (both institutional donors and international non-governmental organizations) in the development of general and technical competency frameworks for humanitarian workers and the design and implementation of complementary humanitarian capacity building programs.
Method: A systematic review of literature was performed to identify any existing literature on the transition from novice to expert for humanitarian health program managers. Literature related to capacity building resources and opportunities developed over the past five years are reviewed, with a focus on curriculum, target populations, and outcomes. When possible, lessons learned from these programs are identified.
Findings: Seven major programs have been developed over the past 5 years with a specific focus on the development of humanitarian project management capacity building. Some of these programs have been developed into open source comprehensive humanitarian training toolkits, available to a wider public. However most of these programs targeted staff already employed within humanitarian organizations. They did not have the goal of bridging entry to the sector nor did they focus on any specific technical skill development.
Interpretation: The new generation of humanitarian health managers from North America entering the workforce do not have direct access to the majority of training programs or courses currently set up. Spaces are limited, courses are not frequent and most often than not, are held outside of North America. New professionals entering this sector of work will both lack the technical skill set and opportunities to be trained on them unless they are linked directly to an organization that will 1) teach them the skill and 2) let them practice the skill in a real setting. This review of literature will set the groundwork for a 12 month post-graduate fellowship program that aims to transition student from academia to a humanitarian health project management role.
Funding: Action Against Hunger. Background: In 2010, a partnership between Kedougou, Senegal regional Ministry of Health, the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), and Peace Corps Senegal, was formed and collaboratively identified cervical cancer prevention as a major service gap. As part of this partnership, Peace Corp Volunteers (PCVs), provide project coordination, research support, and community advocacy. The partnership has trained 63 clinicians in a visual inspection screening method while providing screening access to over 9000 women. We evaluated the Peace Corps Volunteers' (PCVs) views of this global health partnership approach with the aim of overcoming common challenges in low-income country communities.
Methods: A descriptive, qualitative approach was used to describe how PCVs evaluated their role in the project, as well as the global health partnership in general. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Boards at UIC and by the University of Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegal. We collected data between November 2012 to March 2014 through focus group interviews and a written 20item survey. PCVs involved in the partnership during this time participated in the study.
Findings: Six of six PCVs (100%) PCVs were surveyed. The majority of PCVs reported that this partnership approach ensured community priorities and culturally appropriate interventions as well as efficient use of resources and empowerment of local partners. Stated challenges included communication barriers and community partner participation in the evaluation strategy.
Interpretation: We elicited the perspectives of 100% of the Peace Corps Volunteers involved in the project and asked them to assess this innovative global partnership. Limitations are that there are little to no data to compare this partnership to the ways that Human Resources and Workforce M a y eJ u n e 2 0 1 6 : 3 3 9 -3 7 4