Table 5 Matching existing partnership principles with this study’s pragmatic examples to promote effective relationships
Practical examples from this study | Recommendations to promote ‘effective’ partnerships | |
|---|---|---|
Set the Agenda Together | Communication perceived as crucial to promoting authenticity in partnerships | Encourage frequent communication through various methods including Skype/telephone and face to face meetings |
A broad based consultation should precede any programme | Previous working relationships advantageous factor in effective working relationships | Funders can provide networking opportunities as pre-cursors to partnership awards to build working relationships and contextual understandings |
Interact with stakeholders | Important to have the same assumptions when entering partnership to ensure equity or effects can be debilitating | Funders can make assessment of engagement of all partners/stakeholders in study design and implementation plans |
Where experience of LMIC context was limited, inequity in partnerships was more likely to occur based on lack of contextual understandings | Establishment of mentorship schemes for researchers in HICs with limited experience in LMICs to improve contextual understandings | |
Clarify responsibilities | African institutes would like more financial control | Simultaneous strengthening of financial systems in LMIC institutions accompanied by change in award financial regulations to give LMIC partners more financial control |
The northern partner should be prepared to relinquish control and to accept considerable autonomy on the part of the Southern partner | Decision-making between Southern and Northern partners should be equitable with complementary roles; this will reduce or eliminate power imbalances | |
Promote mutual learning | Benefits mainly identified by the UK PI as to what they had provided to the African PI with the exception of learning about LMIC context | Funders and award partners should be explicit about the benefits to themselves of North–South research partnerships |
African researchers perceived teaching received by UK partners as beneficial to their learning | Work with Northern partners to encourage them to identify potential learning opportunities for themselves within the partnership | |
Enhance capacities | UK and African award holders perceived sharing of laboratory space and research equipment as a collaborative benefit | Incorporate strengthening of institutional infrastructures so that partnership benefits can be sustained |
Strengthening capacities to produce socially relevant research should be a specific aim of the partnership | Additional grants received independently by the African partner | Whilst collaboration is critical to successful partnerships, encourage partners to establish grant diversity and resilience |
Share data and networks | Majority of conference presentations and paper publications resultant from the award were collaborative | Promote collaborative dissemination of research findings through different mechanisms |
Disseminate results | ||
Pool profits and merits | ||
Apply results | ||
Secure outcomes |