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Research capacity, motivators and barriers to conducting research among healthcare providers in Tanzania’s public health system: a mixed methods study

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Kengia, James T., Kalolo, Albino, Barash, David, Chwa, Cindy, Hayirli, Tuna Cem, Kapologwe, Ntuli A., Kinyaga, Ally, Meara, John G. +3 more·2023·Human Resources for Health
DOI 10.1186/s12960-023-00858-wPMC PMC10478476

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Abstract

Background: Building health research capacity in low- and middle-income countries is essential to achieving universal access to safe, high-quality healthcare. It can enable healthcare workers to conduct locally relevant research and apply findings to strengthen their health delivery systems. However, lack of funding, experience, know-how, and weak research infrastructures hinders their ability. Understanding research capacity, engagement, and contextual factors that either promote or obstruct research efforts by healthcare workers can inform national strategies aimed at building research capacity. Methods: We used a convergent mixed-methods study design to understand research capacity and research engagement of healthcare workers in Tanzania’s public health system, including the barriers, motivators, and facilitators to conducting research. Our sample included 462 randomly selected healthcare workers from 45 facilities. We conducted surveys and interviews to capture data in five categories: (1) healthcare workers research capacity; (2) research engagement; (3) barriers, motivators, and facilitators; (4) interest in conducting research; and (5) institutional research capacity. We assessed quantitative and qualitative data using frequency and thematic analysis, respectively; we merged the data to identify recurring and unifying concepts. Results: Respondents reported low experience and confidence in quantitative (34% and 28.7%, respectively) and qualitative research methods (34.5% and 19.6%, respectively). Less than half (44%) of healthcare workers engaged in research. Engagement in research was positively associated with: working at a District Hospital or above ( p = 0.006 ), having a university degree or more ( p = 0.007 ), and previous research experience ( p = 0.001 ); it was negatively associated with female sex ( p = 0.033 ) . Barriers to conducting research included lack of research funding, time, skills, opportunities to practice, and research infrastructure. Motivators and facilitators included a desire to address health problems, professional development, and local and international collaborations. Almost all healthcare workers (92%) indicated interest in building their research capacity. Conclusion: Individual and institutional research capacity and engagement among healthcare workers in Tanzania is low, despite high interest for capacity building. We propose a fourfold pathway for building research capacity in Tanzania through (1) high-quality research training and mentorship; (2) strengthening research infrastructure, funding, and coordination; (3) implementing policies and strategies that stimulate engagement; and (4) strengthening local and international collaborations.

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  • The slow pace of substance use BI research could be attributed to general barriers to conducting research in Africa e.g. low experience with research methods, lack of funding and time, competing work priorities, and a lack of belief that research is valuable or will make a difference.

    “The slow pace of substance use BI research could be attributed to general barriers to conducting research in Africa e.g. low experience with research methods, lack of funding and time, competing work priorities, and a lack of belief that research is valuable or will make a difference [121,122].”

    From A scoping review of substance use brief interventions in Africa (2024) · cites this paper as [121]

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [28]Miles MB, Huberman AM. Qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks: Sage. http://refhub.elsevier.com/S1072-7515(21)00261-1/sref45.

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Authors
Kengia, J. T., Kalolo, A., Barash, D., Chwa, C., Hayirli, T. C., Kapologwe, N. A., Kinyaga, A., Meara, J. G., Staffa, S. J., Zanial, N., & Alidina, S.
Affiliations
  • Government of Tanzania (TZ)
  • St. Francis University College of Health and Allied Sciences (TZ)
  • Harvard University (US)
  • Boston Children's Hospital (US)
Corresponding author
Kengia, James T.
ORCID
Venue
Human Resources for Health
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2023-09-05
Volume
21
Issue
1
Pages
73-73
ISSN
1478-4491 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s12960-023-00858-w
PMC
PMC10478476
OpenAlex
W4386457870
Cited by
40
References
59
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 2
FWCI
10.24
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Human Resources for Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
GE Foundation (28045607)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Health and Medical Research Impacts
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Policy Implementation Science
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Global Health and Surgery
Keywords
research capacity building, healthcare workers, research engagement, barriers to research, institutional research capacity, research funding, research infrastructure, low- and middle-income countries
MeSH terms
Altruism, Female, Health Personnel, Humans, Public Health, Tanzania, Capacity Building

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