Dr. Olagoke Akintola, senior lecturer at the University of KwaZuluNatal in Durban, South Africa, presented at AMREF's Coffeehouse Speaker Series on global development on the intersection of health and development with specific focus on the community level. The coffeehouse speaker series looks at international development and global health, specifically focusing on Africa.

1. Reflections on Knowledge
Translation in Community Health
Research in Southern Africa
Olagoke Akintola, MBA, MPH, PhD
Visiting Professor, Program in Policy Decision-
making, Centre for Health Economics and Policy
Analysis, McMaster University
Senior Lecturer Health Promotion Program, University of
KwaZuluNatal, Durban, South Africa

2. Background
• Focus of research: Intersection of health &
development with specific focus on the
community level
• Primary health care provides the context
• Alma Ata Declaration 1978 Kazakhstan

3. • Community health care
– Work(ers)
• Workers
• Work
• Community-based organizations

4. • Interdisciplinary work drawing on:
– Social and organizational psychology
– Health psychology
– Positive psychology
– Public health
– Community development
– Feminist economics
– Gender and health
– Political economy

5. • Caregivers and care work
– Workers’ gender & gendered nature of care
(Akintola 2004ab;2006)
– Workers’ health: stress, burnout=burden of care
(Akintola 2008; Akintola, Hlengwa, Dageid 2013)
– Work environment/conditions:
motivations, rewards/remuneration, employment
opportunities, career advancement, job creation

6. • Caregivers and care work
– ‘Meaning of working’ among paid AIDS care
employees (Akintola & Ntetha forthcoming)
• Meanings attached to working influences
– Job performance
– Satisfaction
– Absenteeism
– Turnover/Attrition

7. • Community-based organizations
– Paid care workers in CBOs (Akintola & Chikoko
forthcoming)
– Access to funding
– Impact of the global financial crisis

8. • Political economy of care/care economy
• AIDS care economy/political economy of AIDS
care (Akintola, 2006; 2008)
– Value of time spent by caregivers
– Cost of hospital care versus community/home
care

9. • Access to resources in home care
– Training resources (Akintola & Dlamini
forthcoming)
– Psychosocial support (Akintola & Gwelo
forthcoming)
– Social support (Akintola & forthcoming)

10. • Social capital and care
– The role of social capital in accessing resources for
HBC (Akintola 2011; Dageid et al, 2011)
– Community-based organizations and their roles in
health and development (Dageid et al, 2011)
– Community participation in health and
development (Dageid et al, 2011)

11. • Care and poverty
– Exploring the links between AIDS care and poverty
• Opportunity costs: impact on agriculture or paid work
• Financial costs
• Material costs

12. Research to Policy: Strategies and
Experiences
• Presentation at International conferences
– Bangkok AIDS conference 2004=
• conference media coverage
• Internet
• Hosted on several health, development and gender
websites
• Interviews 1) IRIN (UN internet newspaper 2)national
South African radio service
• E-mail request for policy paper from researchers, NGOs
and advocacy agencies working on development,
gender & health

13. • Use of other packaged research evidence. (KT
Products): Policy Briefs; Policy Papers (HEARD
Website 2004)
• Focus on Gendered burden of care
– Request for further research from International NGO:
ActionAID International
– Publication for ActionAID used mainly for advocacy
– Launched at Africa AIDS conference, Abuja 2005
– Other advocacy/lobbying activities

14. • Invitations to present at International forums
of academics, policy advocates, international
organizations & to contribute to UN policy
documents.
– Outcomes
• Development of policy documents for UN Sec Gen
report to the Commission of Status of Women
• Policy meetings/documents on extreme poverty and
care at the UN Geneva

15. • Invitation to partner with International
advocacy NGOs (Huairou Commission, New
York)
– Outcome:
• multi-country research on remuneration of volunteer
caregivers
• Used for advocacy & lobbying at the UN Commission on
the Status of Women & other fora

16. Social capital project
• Use of further research for dissemination and
participation
• Community dissemination of research findings
• Community participation in knowledge
translation –skits, recording
• Stakeholder participation in dissemination of
KT products (DVD), participatory community
drama
•

17. • Comics/cartoons distributed throughout study
community
• Skits dissemination through the internet

18. • Academic publications in peer-reviewed
journals
• Edited scholarly book on social capital and
AIDS for
academics, students, teaching, researchers, po
licymakers

19. Concluding thoughts
• KT product developed based on intended audience
• Research to policy could be a slow process
• Dissemination does not necessarily imply uptake
• But necessary step towards uptake
• In our studies we sought to create awareness among
policy makers at the global level
• There is anecdotal evidence that findings percolate and
eventually get to policymakers
• Partnerships with other organizations
• Studies generates snowball effect among researchers
and advocates and lobbyists