Equity Research in Myanmar

This module/workshop will introduce the core principles of health equity research and cover topics such as defining health equity, social determinants of health, cultural competence, and examples of health equity research.

#	Topic	Description	Faculty
1.1	Introduction to Concept of Health Equity	Introduce the core principles of health equity, discuss cultural competence,  and reduce bias to build community trust.	Than-Tun Sein
1.2	Social Justice and Ethical Frameworks for Health Equity Research	Describe the ethical frameworks for Health Equity Research	Robert Wachbroit
1.3	Social determinants of health: From health disparities to health equity	Discuss social context and modifiable risk factors in health disparities. Describe interventions to address social determinants of health	Than-Tun Sein
1.4	Health Equity Research:   Types of research that addresses Health Equity	Achieving Health Equity: Closing The Gaps In Health Care Disparities, Interventions, and Research	Henry Silverman

3.1	Developing the Research Question	Literature Review = Research Gap Development of scientific objectives	Henry Silverman
3.2	Choosing a Research Proposal	Use of the FINER criteria	Henry Silverman

 

Qualitative methods are essential in implementation research because they enable an in-depth consideration of the dynamic context of implementation – including institutional structures, stakeholder groups’ interests, and interactions, human-technology interactions, and political, economic, legal, and social conditions.

 

#	TOPIC	DESCRIPTION	Name
4.1	Quantitative Research	Role of quantitative research in health equity, epidemiological study designs for health equity, biostatistics.	Win Han Oo
4.2	Qualitative Research	Role of qualitative research in health-related implementation research. Conducting interviews, focus groups, observations, and mixed methods	Win Han Oo
4.3	Statistical Methods	Statistical methods to perform secondary research with existing data
4.3	Research in the digital world	Using social and digital methods to conduct research	Thin Mar Win
4.4	Systemic reviews and meta-analysis	Aspects of secondary research from previously collected data	Win Han Oo

Encouraging and supporting community participation in generating evidence for improved solutions to health challenges are important in building trust in science through sustained engagement. As such, there is a need for the promotion of community engagement in health research.  Community participation needs to occur at all levels of the research process, including framing the research questions and participation in the development of the study design. This is expected to improve the uptake and implementation of research findings.

#	TOPIC	DESCRIPTION	Faculty
5.1	Theory of community-Based Participatory Research	Historical and Practice Roots of CBPR Socio-Economic Framework for CBPR	Kyu Kyu Than
5.2	Best practices in engaging communities	Partnership Formation and Maintenance Power, Trust and Dialogue Working with Diverse Communities	Kyu Kyu Than
5.3	Identify methods in social epidemiology to utilize in health equity research.	Discuss how social epidemiology can be used to inform the development of health equity interventions.	Than-Tun Sein
5.4	CBPR Methods I	Intervention Development and Research Design coupled with Community Assessment.  CBPR participation in survey design and interviewer guide. Focus group methodologies	Kyu Kyu Tha*
5.5	CBPR Methods II	Collaborative Interpretation and application of results. CBPR Capacity and Health Policy Development	Kyu Kyu Than
5.6	Types of Implementation Strategies	Apply theory and evidence to the design of more effective implementation strategies	Win Han Oo
5.7	Ethical issues with engaging communities	Ethics Review Committee oversight in research.  Data Sharing, Ownership and Publishing Agreements. Informed Consent	Henry Silverman

A major obstacle to achieving the health-related equity goals is the weakness of the health systems in many low- and middle-income countries, and their struggle to effectively provide health care to populations in need.  Research has a crucial part to play in strengthening health systems and in improving the equitable distribution of quality health services for populations in need.  The full landscape involves research at the operational, community, and health systems levels.  In this section we cover research to inform health systems to enhance health equity.

#	TOPIC	DESCRIPTION	Faculty
6.1	Defining Research to Improve Health Systems	Define Health Systems Research Health policy and systems research (HPSR) to inform and influence health policies and systems Strengthening health research systems in LMICs	Henry Silverman
6.2	Strategies that can be used to enhance health care utilization to enhance equity	Engaging Health System Leaders and Organizational Stakeholders in Health Equity Research Discuss principles of knowledge transfer Using Digital and Social Media to Engage Stakeholders and Disseminate Health Equity Research	Than-Tun Sein
6.3	Ethical considerations for health policy and systems research	Describe ethical aspects of health systems research	Henry Silverman Robert Wachbroit

 

This module will review best practices in scientific writing style, analyze the main genres of research writing, provide many opportunities for participants to revise their own work based on feedback from instructors and each other, and understand best practices in grant writing.

Part I

#	TOPIC	DESCRIPTION	Faculty
2.1	What is Scientific Writing & Genres of Scientific Writing	Describe the “language” of scientific writing	Isabell May, PhD
2.2	The Research Paper (IMRaD Format)	Introduction/Methods/Results/Discussion	Isabell May, PhD

Part II

#	TOPIC	DESCRIPTION	Faculty
7.1	Scientific Writing Principles	Review of best practices in scientific communication (e.g., sentence structure, paragraph organization, use of active voice, clear argument, avoiding redundancies)	Isabell May, PhD
7.2	Citation Conventions & Avoiding Plagiarism		Henry Silverman
7.3	Referencing and use of software (Endnote or Mendeley)		Isabell May, PhD

 

Participants will receive training to conduct their research.  Participants will choose a research topic during the first few months of the Health Research Equity training followed by the write-up of a proposal.  The aim is for each participant to be ready to conduct the project by April.

Participants are encourage to conduct secondary analysis of an existing data base as it might be time consuming to obtain ethical approval of a project that includes the collection of prospective data.

Each participant will be guided by a mentor and will also receive help from a statistician.

The aim is for participants to publish in a peer-reviewed journal and to use the study findings to foster evidence informed decision-making in public health. .