Equitable partnership: A Research Assistant’s Perspective

Ntombekhaya and Tamlyn from EI South Africa team visited their colleagues in Ghana as part of the knowledge exchange program. Being intentional about expanding knowledge on relevant and sustainable forms of partnership, we explored perspectives from Ghana on this subject.

This second episode features Jane Acquaye. Jane is a Research Assistant within the EI Ghana team. Jane shares her views on equitable partnership. 

Mutual respect, trust and benefit are key elements. Central to data accuracy and mutual goals is community engagement and active participation. Workshops need to respect community priorities, enabling and allowing them to discuss issues that are important to them. 

For more insights and perspectives on equitable partnership and injury care, continue listening to our episodes.

NIHR Global Health Group on Equitable Access to Quality Health Care for Injured People in Four Low or Middle Income Countries: Equi-injury

UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supported Study title: Knowledge exchange for evidence-informed injury care

What is Global Health from the Global South: Learning and Exchange for Research on Injury Care?

Every year, around 5 million individuals die due to various types of injuries like road accidents, burns, falls, or violence. Shockingly, 90% of these deaths occur in low- or middle-income countries (LMICs). Moreover, even for those who survive these injuries, disability rates are quite high, with around 40-50% of people being unable to work or disabled post-injury. To address this issue, the World Health Organization has called for the establishment of strong health systems that provide quality care to people who are injured to prevent death and disability. However, there is a lack of evidence on how to achieve this.

Our research partnership is based in Ghana, Pakistan, Rwanda, and South Africa, and we are working towards promoting equitable access to quality care after injury. To ensure that our research is grounded in the real-life experiences of injury and injury care, we collaborate closely with various stakeholder groups, including patients, community members, healthcare providers, and policy makers. Additionally, we aim to create equitable research partnerships and scientific hubs to support future researchers beyond the scope of our project.

Through this podcast series, we want to provide a platform for our collaborative to showcase the voices of our community of stakeholders. The series will feature discussions among members of the public, patients, healthcare workers, policy makers, planners, and scientists. Our goal is to facilitate a dialogue on how to improve access to quality injury care and to demonstrate how equitable research partnerships can support and inform these efforts.