3rd Best- practice Workshop held at AHRI
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3 rd Best- practice Workshop held at AHRI Delegates from the MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt) in Mpumalanga and the DIMAMO Population Health Research Centre in Limpopo were hosted by the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) from 30 August to 1 September for a South African Population Research Infrastructure Network (SAPRIN) Nodal Best Practice workshop. The Director of SAPRIN, Prof Mark Collinson, describes the Best Practice workshop series as “a SAPRIN strategy to create shared skills and develop communities of practice in research operations, data management, and public and community engagement that will be the basis for creating a harmonised platform based on a common SAPRIN protocol, while acknowledging the different contexts in which the Health and Demographic Surveillance Sites (HDSS) nodes operate in”. Opening the workshop, the SAPRIN Deputy Director and AHRI Chief Information Officer Dr Kobus Herbst, noted that the workshop was “the third in a series of workshops, which will recur in future as we progress with the protocol implementation and enable new nodes joining SAPRIN to learn from our experience”.
Transcript of 3rd Best- practice Workshop held at AHRI
3rd Best- practice Workshop held at AHRI
Delegates from the MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit
(Agincourt) in Mpumalanga and the DIMAMO Population Health Research Centre in Limpopo
were hosted by the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) from 30 August to 1 September for a
South African Population Research Infrastructure Network (SAPRIN) Nodal Best Practice
workshop.
The Director of SAPRIN, Prof Mark Collinson, describes the Best Practice workshop series as “a
SAPRIN strategy to create shared skills and develop communities of practice in research
operations, data management, and public and community engagement that will be the basis for
creating a harmonised platform based on a common SAPRIN protocol, while acknowledging the
different contexts in which the Health and Demographic Surveillance Sites (HDSS) nodes operate
in”.
Opening the workshop, the SAPRIN Deputy Director and AHRI Chief Information Officer Dr Kobus
Herbst, noted that the workshop was “the third in a series of workshops, which will recur in future
as we progress with the protocol implementation and enable new nodes joining SAPRIN to learn
from our experience”.
This workshop focused on exchanging ideas and experience to establish robust Call Centres for
Computer Assisted Telephonic Interview (CATI) data collection systems. Additionally, the
workshop provided the opportunity for delegates to learn about all the entire operational systems
of AHRI HDSS node from field-based data collection, data management to public engagement.
The workshop was delivered through plenary and parallel presentations, discussions, practical
demonstrations.
Workshop delegates also spent time at AHRI’s call-centre and visited a household in the area as
well as a clinic to witness first-hand AHRI’s field team procedures, and the efforts made at clinic-
level to improve completeness of health records.
Delegates spent the third day of the workshop attending a public engagement roadshow in the
community of Mfekayi.
Nonhlanhla Mkhwanazi, AHRI Special Task Supervisor explaining how fieldworkers
perform field-based data collection
A Call Centre Agent, demonstrating how to conduct a Computer Assisted Telephonic Interview
Visit to KwaMsane Primary Health Care Clinic
AHRI Public Engagement team members Ncengani Mthethwa and Makhosazane Ntombela
with a community member
