COUNTDOWN at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine welcomed colleagues from Nigeria and Liberia for a 2-week paper writing retreat, which took place from 30th October 2017 – 10th November 2017.
As part of COUNTDOWN’s commitment to capacity strengthening, the purpose of the retreat was to share ideas and improve paper writing skill sets. Each of the workshop attendees had focused time to turn research outputs into potential peer-reviewed publications that will showcase the COUNTDOWN research from Liberia and Nigeria to an international audience.
The two weeks was filled with vigorous brainstorming, interactive and participatory activities such as draft writing, pitching and review sessions. The team were also encouraged to participate in the upcoming Health Systems Global (HSG) 2018 conference to be hosted in Liverpool. Led by Professor Sally Theobald, COUNTDOWN’s Social Science lead, the team learned of the consultative process that decided #HSG2018’s theme – ‘Advancing Health systems for all in the SDG Era’. The team is hoping to present some of their work at the symposium, so watch this space.
Highlights of the discussions during pitching sessions focused on expected outcomes and impact of the integrated case management of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in Liberia, using capacity strengthening to enhance success and overcome barriers in NTDs programmes in Nigeria, understanding how to motivate CDDs, teachers and Frontline Health Facility Staff in Nigeria, and thinking about alternative sustainable ways of community directed NTD interventions for different contexts through the sharing of lessons from Nigeria and Liberia.
Our colleagues from Liberia and Nigeria took part in a Health Walk around Liverpool exploring the changing socio-economic fabric of the city and being introduced to Liverpool’s rich public health history. For example, it was interesting for our partners to understand Florence Nightingale’s contribution to the building of the Old Royal Liverpool Infirmary which opened in 1889 (now the Foresight Centre - See Pic 2). They learned, she drew widely on her experience of managing hospitals in the Crimea to contribute to the design of the infirmary with a focus on maximising health and minimising harm through ensuring adequate ventilation into the wards and creating a five feet space between the beds as a cross-infection control measure.
Our partners visit provided a platform for ideas and knowledge to be exchanged and we all learned using peer-to-peer reviews. Do visit our resource page to find out about outputs from this writing retreat and our other knowledge products already published.