Dear Afro-nets colleagues,
The Ashanti-ProCor Project continues its work in Ghana to identify the information needs of health workers who can play a key role in CVD prevention, and to develop effective responses that increase access to timely, relevant information and the translation of knowledge into practice.
I am pleased to report that on 1 June 2009 an expanded project design was approved by the Ethical Review and Approval Committee of Ghana Health Service, paving the way for a new phase of focus group discussions that will be conducted in the coming months. In conjunction with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, discussions with pharmacy and medical herbalist students are being planned for September-October 2009; and focus groups with pharmacists and nursing students in the Ashanti Region will take place in November.
This new, expanded phase of project activity was initiated in direct response to the valuable guidance of stakeholders and local experts in the Ashanti Region, who suggested that many groups of health professionals beyond physicians and nurses (the original scope of the project) can play a key role in preventing cardiovascular disease if they have access to relevant information and a mandate to support their efforts.
Meanwhile, nearly 20 hours of focus group discussion and key information interviews which were conducted in November 2008, have been transcribed and are being coded prior to qualitative analysis.
The Ashanti-ProCor Project is a four-year project exploring the CVD information needs of health care providers with the goal of developing innovative, effective responses that promote preventive strategies. Activities completed to date include:
* A literature review on the information needs of health workers in developing countries with a focus on Africa, which was conducted in by two expert colleagues, Dr. Neil Pakenham-Walsh and Dr. Fred Bukachi. An article which presents the results of the review and a global call to action was published in April 2009 in Human Resources for Health, an open-access journal. "Information needs of health workers in developing countries: a literature review with a focus on Africa" is available online:
www.human-resources-health.com/content/7/1/30.
* A survey of CVD knowledge and practice among 300 medical students and 80 public health nurses. The survey indicated that awareness of CVD and ways to prevent it was high, but that lack of information and other challenges limited the role of health workers in prevention.
* Discussions with stakeholders at local, regional, and national levels in Ghana to explore the potential roles of diverse groups of health workers in promoting heart health. Twelve groups of health workers were identified as key to prevention. Local project participants developed a set of indicators which were used to collaboratively analyze and prioritize the groups on which the project should focus.
* Focus groups and key informant interviews with medical students, public health/community health nurses, physicians, medical librarians, and resource specialists. Recordings have been transcribed and are being coded prior to qualitative analysis.
Download a one-page PDF summary of the literature review and learn more about the Ashanti-ProCor Project at
www.procor.org/usr_doc/AshantiProCorProjectUpdateJune2009.pdf or email
info@procor.org.
Catherine Coleman
Editor in Chief, ProCor
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