Biomedical subjects

W El Ansari

Publications and source records attributed to W El Ansari.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

What matters most? Predictors of student satisfaction in public health educational courses.

The development of primary care trusts, the health protection agency, and non-medical public health (PH) specialists' pathways requires a competent PH workforce to be in place. Hence, the quality of education and training of PH workers is increasingly critical. With the diversity of courses and programmes that contribute to building a competent PH workforce, few studies have examined the satisfaction of students (and reasons for it) on educational PH programmes. The present study investigated the influences that four demographic variables (gender, disability, ethnicity and age bracket) and seven education-related variables (mode of study, academic term, academic level, pre-/postregistration status, entry qualification, qualification aim and class size) have on PH students' perceptions of satisfaction with 18 aspects of their learning. After controlling for the effects of the other variables, five variables explained 32% of the reported satisfaction levels. These were class size, study mode, qualification aim, pre-/postregistration status and academic level. Part-time students on postgraduate programmes are a particularly vulnerable group who may need extra support from PH educators and trainers. For these students, smaller class sizes could be beneficial, and if larger classes are inevitable, smaller group work sessions within the classes is advocated. Equally important is the availability of library resources required for learning, and course materials, handbooks and briefs need to be clear, informative, user friendly and available early in the course. Satisfied students achieved better final grades, reflecting an increased amount of transferable knowledge. The implications of the study findings for research and practice are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Collaborative research partnerships with disadvantaged communities: challenges and potential solutions.

Community/campus research collaborations face multiple challenges. An understanding of the community's background, history, habits and traditions, values and mode of operations is required. This article narrates a 3-year experience of undertaking collaborative public health research with five disadvantaged communities in various provinces of South Africa. Based on the experience, five main challenges exist: the value systems of those collaborating in the research; the stakeholders' costs and benefits of being involved; issues of empowerment and capacity transfer; the need for multidisciplinary research approaches; and the prerequisite of the clarity of relationships and roles between researcher and community. Categorized under the five main challenges are examples of 19 interlacing 'concepts' that detailed the South African research partnership from the perspective of the processes, dealings and daily difficulties. Examples of the challenges and concepts are highlighted from the author's research experiences with disadvantaged communities. These challenges increase exponentially with the inclusion of more research sites, more stakeholders or when undertaking cluster research. Possible preventative measures or solutions to the problems are suggested. Both the 'town' and 'gown' partners are required to attend to a multitude of factors when embarking on collaborative community-based research.

Community Health Planning↗

PubMed2003

Education for health: case studies of two multidisciplinary MPH/MSc public health programmes in the UK.

Amidst the winds of change that are blowing across the UK public health (PH) landscape in relation to the essential abilities and national standards that are required for the 'art and science' of PH, the preparation for a new cadre of 'PH professionals' is already underway. Several postgraduate masters programmes in public health (MPH) have taken on board the challenge of addressing the requisite sets of skills and expertise as a guide to their content and delivery. Although there are recommendations regarding teaching PH to undergraduate medical students, little consensus seems to exist on teaching postgraduate PH to non-medically qualified professionals, health managers and administrators. Employing a case study approach, this article analyses the methods used, philosophies and processes, structure and organization, outcomes to date, and lessons learnt from MPH programmes implemented at two institutions in the UK. The programmes have been initiated recently, and have had the opportunity to take on board the recent national guidelines about training standards. The findings indicate that preparatory work of the programmes, and the challenges and strengths in meeting the recent policy developments in PH training are pertinent points. The MPH programmes highlight key issues in interprofessional education and its purpose, its process and its outcomes in relation to multidisciplinary specialist practice. These programmes provide a variety of models for others wishing to develop or restructure their postgraduate PH teaching programmes. The finalization of the national standards for specialist practice in PH in the UK is encouraged, along with clearer working definitions of the domains of expertise required. Collectively, attention to these measures can ensure that the processes which teaching programmes embrace to refine their content and delivery will equip tomorrow's professionals with PH knowledge and skills.

Curriculum↗

PubMed2002

Narrowing the gap between academic professional wisdom and community lay knowledge: perceptions from partnerships.

Community involvement in health through community partnerships (CPs) has been widely advocated. Putting CPs into practice is complex and represents a challenge for all the stakeholders involved in the change process. Employing data from five CPs aiming to bring together communities, academics and health service providers in South Africa, this paper aims to examine and compare the views of the health care professionals with those of the community members with respect to each other's skills and abilities. Five domains of expertise in partnership working are examined: educational competencies; partnership fostering skills; community involvement expertise; change agents proficiencies; and strategic and management capacities. The findings suggest that the community recognizes the expertise and abilities brought by the professional staff to the CPs. Community members have a positive view of the capabilities of the professionals, in particular their abilities as resource persons in the areas of budget management, policy formulation and the introduction and management of change. The professionals, on the other hand, are cautious regarding the level of skill and capability in communities. The limited appreciation of community skills by the professionals covered all the five domains of expertise examined. The findings suggest that if joint working is to survive, the professionals will need to increase their valuation of the indigenous proficiencies inherent in their community partners. We conclude that programme models need to consciously incorporate in their design and implementation, capacity building, skills transfer and empowerment strategies.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Collaboration and partnerships: developing the evidence base.

Despite the growing literature that collaboration is a 'good' thing, there are calls emphasising the need for evidence of its effectiveness. However, the nature of the evidence to assess effectiveness is less clear. This paper examines the components that contribute to the challenges that confront evidence on collaboration. It considers the differing interpretations that have been placed on evaluation and explores how ways of determining the outcomes of collaboration and the levels of outcome measurement to assess collaborative effectiveness are influenced by the multifactorial nature of the concept. Evidence on the impact of collaboration is influenced by the diversity of perspectives and conceptual facets, and difficulty in measurement of the notions involved. Other factors discussed are the choice of macro or micro evaluation, of proximal or distal indicators, of short and long-term effects, or of individual-level or collective community-level outcomes. The suitability of randomised controlled trials for the measurement of collaborative outcomes as well as the requirement of mixed methods evaluations are highlighted. An evaluation of five community partnerships in South Africa is employed as an example to link the evaluation concepts that are discussed to a real enquiry. If collaboration is to be successful in making a difference in the lives of people, then increasing the precision and context of appraising its effectiveness will reduce the nature of inconclusive evidence and is likely to improve the practice of partnerships, coalitions and joint working in health and social care.

Community Health Services↗