The Last Mile

Economic terms such as effectiveness and efficiency are often used when evaluating programs, but what do these terms really mean? Tune in to hear Dr. McFarland from Emory University, and Dr. Dalaba from the University of Health and Allied Sciences, as they discuss the role that public health economics has in the fight against NTDs.

Join Dr. Margaret baker, Dr. Beth Sutherland and Dr. Gemma Aellah to learn about the value and utility of qualitative research methods to enhance MDA.

In this episode we hear from Geordie Woods from Sightsavers and Mack Giancola on how they used a participatory evaluation approach called: Outcome Harvesting to evaluate the Accelerate trachoma elimination programme.

Full speaker bios:

Mack Giancola has 15+ years of experience as an educator, public health leader, and evaluation consultant.  He specializes in participatory evaluation approaches like outcome harvesting by combining qualitative and quantitative approaches with facilitation and sense-making.  

 He is currently wrapping up his dissertation at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, School of Public Health Leadership. 

Geordie Woods is a technical advisor on neglected tropical diseases for Sightsavers, focusing on social and behavior change communication and the integration of water hygiene and sanitation programing into NTDs programs. He works with multiple organizations across these sectors, spearheading innovative partnerships. His areas of expertise include strategic communication design, mass media and community mobilization, and advocacy. Geordie was a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea and worked subsequently for years in West Africa with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has an MPH from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Additional Resources:

This episode of the Last Mile Podcast will discuss how to conduct a successful focus group discussion with Dr. Doris Njomo from the Kenya Medical Research Institute, and Naomi Caplan and Dr. Mekuriaw Alemayehu from the NALA foundation.

In this episode, we will be learning about Rapid Ethnography to get a better understanding of how this kind of research methodology can help us control and eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases. To help us navigate this topic, we have brought on two special guests, Dr. Padmalochan Biswal and Dr. Satyabrata Routray.

Podcast Guests

• Dr. Padmalochan Biswal
• Dr. Satyabrata Routray.

Podcast Host(s)

iCHORDS Community of Practice is a platform for communication, collaboration and knowledge exchange within social and behavioural science research disciplines to address implementation gaps and current issues facing Neglected Tropical Disease programs. Given this, It is extremely important for iCHORDS to work together with other partners to understand challenges that are faced within communities so we as researchers can be responsive to needs.

Today we will be speaking to the Chair of Kikundi Leadership Council, a Community of Practice for NTD Program Managers in Africa - to learn more about some of the dynamic needs program managers are facing in the field.

Podcast Guests

• Dr. George Kabona

Podcast Host(s)

Health campaigns are defined as time-bound, intermittent activities that deal with particular epidemiologic challenges, quickly close delivery gaps or offer supplemental coverage for health initiatives. Integrating health campaigns can be used by programs and organizations to enable co-delivery and collaboration among public health efforts with the goal of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of several interventions. The notion of integration is especially salient in the WHO NTD 2021-2030 roadmap which emphasizes the need for cross-cutting approaches which include improving integration across NTD programs.

Given the importance of mass drug administration as a health campaign to control and eliminate some of the neglected tropical diseases, we set out to learn more about leveraging the power of campaign integration to improve NTD programs. In this episode, we speak to Mariana Sarmiento & Dr. Eva Bazant.

Podcast Guests

Implementation Research (IR) is a systematic approach that recognizes, understands, and addresses implementation bottlenecks and identifies optimal approaches for implementing health interventions, strategies, and policies.

IR helps us improve our understanding of the challenges we face in the real world by enhancing our understanding of how real-world factors impact implementation. By doing so, IR sheds light on the intersection between what can be achieved in theory and what happens in practice.

Given the importance of IR as a tool to improve interventions in the neglected tropical diseases field, we set out to learn more about IR from Dr. Margaret Gyapong and Dr. Olumide Ogundahunsi.

Podcast Guests

A request for proposal (RFP) is a document that announces a project, explains it, and invites eligible researchers or organizations to submit bids to complete it. Developing an effective research proposal to submit to the RFP, in public health and global health, is an essential step towards funding research initiatives.

Given the role of the proposal in outlining the steps that will be taken to answer a research question, we set out to guide our community towards some of the expectations of what makes a good research proposal. To help us navigate the do’s and don'ts of research proposals, we have brought on two special guests, Dr. John Amuasi (ARNTD) and Dr. Patrick Lammie (NTD-SC).

In this episode of The Last Mile podcast, you will:

• Hear about the unique career journeys of Dr. Amuasi and Dr. Lammie and how they started working within the field of neglected tropical diseases
• Learn about the components of a good and bad research proposal
• “Peek behind the curtain” to see what happens when a batch of proposals are received for review
• Learn how to frame the potential for negative research results
• See how the work Dr. Amuasi and Dr. Lammie do contributes to the last mile of NTD elimination and control

Podcast Guests

One of the things we have failed to notice in the evolution of global health ethics has been the neglect of research and implementation partnerships as the context for a wide range of unfair and sometimes inequitable practices.

There aren't many frameworks, benchmarks or standards on best practices for governmental, corporate, non-profit, or academic collaborations. This is particularly true for international collaborative research and innovation involving low- and middle-income countries.

This is where the Research Fairness Initiative (RFI) hopes to make a difference. The RFI is a comprehensive guide for organizations to assess their performance in 15 specific domains of fairness in research partnerships and to guide their internal learning for practice and policy improvement. To help us navigate the Research Fairness Initiative, we have brought on a special guest, Dr. Jim Lavery.

In this episode of The Last Mile podcast, you will:

• Hear about the unique career journey of Dr. Jim Lavery and how he started working within the neglected tropical diseases space
• Learn about the Research Fairness Initiative
• Understand some of the benefits and challenges of using the RFI
• Learn about how the work Dr. Jim Lavery does contributes to the last mile of NTD elimination and control

Podcast Guests

Participatory research approaches facilitate direct collaboration with communities and those affected by the issues being studied within research studies, methods, and frameworks. These approaches ensure the interests and viewpoints of the people affected by diseases or illnesses are heard and better understood throughout research studies.

Using participatory research paradigms is especially important within the Neglected Tropical diseases (NTDs) space, where over 1.7 billion people are affected across many different communities worldwide. Each of these communities are different, so it is essential to work with them to understand some of the most pressing challenges they face.

To help us better explore the ideas behind participatory research in NTD control and elimination, we brought on two guests from COUNTDOWN consortia to share their rich experiences.

In this episode of The Last Mile podcast, you will:

• Hear about the unique career journeys of Dr. Akinola Oluwole and Dr. Kim Ozano and how they started working within the neglected tropical diseases space
• Learn about the participatory research paradigm and participatory methods
• Understand some of the challenges of using participatory methods
• Learn about some of the research impacts of the COUNTDOWN program
• Learn about how the work Dr. Akinola Oluwole and Dr. Kim Ozano conduct contribute to the last mile of NTD elimination and control

Podcast Guests

Subscribe today and join us as we interview guests from across the Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) community, hearing their stories, and how the work they are doing contributes to the last miles of Neglected Tropical Disease elimination and control