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Table 2 Mapped challenges and solutions to each criteria

From: Evaluating the process of partnership and research in global health: reflections from the STRIPE project

Evaluation Criteria

Illustrative Challenges

Proposed Solutions

Access to resources

Financial – contract and payment delays

Human – timely recruitment of qualified staff

Technical – diverse set of unfamiliar online tools; lack of internet connectivity

- Time for recruitment, reflection, and pre-testing.

- Technical training.

- Permissions to utilize JHU tools (e.g. library access).

Expectation setting

Lack of detailed description of task details.

Communication approaches to altered tasks and timelines.

Managing expectations of in-country stakeholders.

- Pre-proposal submission meeting with all team members.

- Protocol development for communicating adaptations and iterations.

Organizational context

Competing priorities for time and effort.

Staff turnover and lengthy hiring processes.

Coping capacity with delays.

- Provision of one coordinator for each country team.

- Integration of project activities with doctoral program requirements in academic institutions.

External context

Outbreaks (circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus and Ebola)

National Elections

Ongoing insecurity

- Flexibility in project targets.

- Formal communication between JHU and country stakeholders.

Quality of information

Too much vs. insufficient data collection (complexity of processes and tools).

Reliability between researchers.

- Flexibility in tool modification and deliverable timelines.

- More focused and precise tools.

Relationship building

Trust and weak networks between country-team institutions and external stakeholders.

- Leverage JHU name to facilitate networks.

- Conduct stakeholder meetings prior to project launch.

Transparency

Lack of early engagement in decision-making for establishing processes, developing tools, and publication.

- Co-developed procedure for data analysis and establishing authorship criteria.

Motivation

Researcher fatigue due to lengthy, detailed processes and tools.

- Rapid publication of results.

- Additional time for planning and training.

Scheduling

Frequent timeline adjustment due to holidays, delays, time zones, differing working-day schedules and other external context.

- Regular review (quarterly) of timelines.

Adaptation

Misunderstandings about adapted timelines and work streams.

- Hire additional staff and engage students.

- Early planning and engagement with teams on tool and process development.

Communication and engagement

Confusion on who to contact within teams for different streams of work.

Onerous communications through different modes.

- Additional one-on-one meetings.

- Clarity on roles and responsibilities.

- Development of externally facing website.

Capacity building

Limited familiarity with diverse set of tools and approaches

- Additional training on tools.

- Engaging student researchers.

- Increased south-south collaboration.