Background : Growing demand for Global Health (GH) training and the internationalisation of education requires innovative approaches to training. Blended learning (BL, a form of e-learning combining face-to-face or real-time interaction with computer-assisted learning) is a promising approach for increasing GH research capacity in low- to middle-income countries. Implementing BL, however, requires additional skills and efforts from lecturers. This paper explores lecturers’ views and experiences of delivering BL courses within the context of two north–south collaborative research capacity building projects, ARCADE HSSR and ARCADE RSDH. Design : We used a qualitative approach to explore the experiences and perceptions of 11 lecturers involved in designing and delivering BL courses collaboratively across university campuses in four countries (South Africa, Uganda, India and Sweden). Data were collected using interviews in person or via Skype. Inductive qualitative content analysis was used. Results : Participants reported that they felt BL increased access to learning opportunities and made training more flexible and convenient for adult learners, which were major motivations to engage in BL. However, despite eagerness to implement and experiment with BL courses, they lacked capacity and support, and found the task time consuming. They needed to make compromises between course objectives and available technological tools, in the context of poor Internet infrastructure. Conclusions : BL courses have the potential to build bridges between low- and middle-income contexts and between lecturers and students to meet the demand for GH training. Lecturers were very motivated to try these approaches but encountered obstacles in implementing BL courses. Considerable investments are needed to implement BL and support lecturers in delivering courses. Keywords: blended learning; global health; e-learning; higher education; doctoral training; research capacity building (Published: 6 October 2016) Citation: Glob Health Action 2016, 9 : 28149 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/gha.v9.28149 This paper is part of the Special Issue: Capacity building in global health research: is blended learning the answer? More papers from this issue can be found at http://www.globalhealthaction.net

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3402/gha.v9.28149

The experiences of lecturers in African, Asian and European universities in preparing and delivering blended health research methods courses: a qualitative study

Research indicates that Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) is associated with significant and chronic impairment across multiple areas of functioning including physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral domains. Whilst impairments associated with ABI can be ameliorated, cure is seldom possible. The emergence of positive psychology reflects a paradigm shift in health and wellbeing research, highlighting the role of character strengths, positive emotions, meaning, and resilience. Positive psychology interventions have been demonstrated to improve wellbeing in a variety of populations, although research investigating the impact of positive psychotherapy for people living with ABI are sparse. Here we characterize the experience of an 8-week positive psychotherapy intervention for 13 people living with ABI including four mentors and nine participants using thematic analysis of transcripts collected during mini-groups and one-to-one interviews. Six main themes were identified including empowerment, social opportunity, coping, cultivation of positive emotion, consolidation of skills and barriers. Results indicated that wellbeing can be promoted and improved in individuals with ABI. Recent theoretical developments in wellbeing science highlight scope to improve the intervention by connecting individuals to their communities and spending time in nature.

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Building Wellbeing in People With Chronic Conditions: A Qualitative Evaluation of an 8-Week Positive Psychotherapy Intervention for People Living With an Acquired Brain Injury.

?Como ha contribuido la Psicologia Social Comunitaria (PSC) Latinoamericana al cumplimiento de las metas, caracteristicas y valores que marcaron su  nacimiento? ?Han sido sus desarrollos consistentes con estas orientaciones? ?Continuan estas vigentes? ?Cuales han sido sus logros y la pertinencia  de los fundamentos empleados para alcanzarlos? El presente articulo aborda estas preguntas a traves del analisis de algunas revisiones criticas de parte de la produccion psicosocial comunitaria latinoamericana. Para tales efectos, confrontamos el discurso de la PSC, en cuanto a sus aspiraciones, con las contribuciones que se desprenden de  la praxis disciplinar, ejemplificada con los resultados de las revisiones realizadas. Este dialogo entre discurso y accion  se organizo con base en el doble compromiso de la PSC: el academico y el social. En el primero consideramos los aportes teoricos y metodologicos al area, mientras que  para el segundo  nos centramos en los actores, los contextos, los procesos y los aportes identificados. En cada caso discutimos el alcance de la produccion y su  impacto para el cumplimiento de  los propositos, caracteristicas y valores postulados para la disciplina. Las reflexiones e interrogantes formuladas a lo largo del texto, y las conclusiones generadas, conducen  a preguntarnos  sobre las implicaciones de los resultados y de si  podemos interpretarlos como indicadores de consolidacion o de crisis de la disciplina.

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La Psicología Social Comunitaria en América Latina: ¿Consolidación o crisis?

Background:A single exercise session evokes immediate blood pressure (BP) reductions that persist for at least 24 h, termed postexercise hypotension (PEH). Self-monitoring of PEH may foster positive outcome expectations of exercise, and thus, enhance exercise adherence among adults with hypertension

Using the immediate blood pressure benefits of exercise to improve exercise adherence among adults with hypertension: a randomized clinical trial

Individuals with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) suffer chronic impairment across cognitive, physical and psycho-social domains, and the experience of anxiety, isolation and apathy has been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative evaluation was conducted of 14 individuals with ABI who had participated in series of COVID adapted group-based intervention(s) that had been designed to improve wellbeing. Eight themes were identified: Facilitating Safety, Fostering Positive Emotion, Managing and Accepting Difficult Emotions, Promoting Meaning, Finding Purpose and Accomplishment, Facilitating Social Ties, (Re)Connecting to Nature, and Barriers to Efficacy. Findings are discussed with respects to recent theoretical developments in positive psychology and wellbeing science and support the use of online and outdoor interventions to enhance wellbeing in individuals living with ABI during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper makes a unique contribution to second wave positive psychology (PP2.0) through the application of recent advances in wellbeing science to an ABI population during the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, this paper lays the foundation for new interventions that not only reduce impairment and distress, but also create opportunities for meaning and enhanced wellbeing in people living with chronic conditions and those individuals living with ABI in particular.

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The Impact of Psycho-Social Interventions on the Wellbeing of Individuals With Acquired Brain Injury During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This short essay aims at commenting on the origin, development, rationale, and main characteristics of qualitative evaluation (QE), emphasizing the value of this methodological tool to evaluate health programs and services. During the past decades, different approaches have come to light proposing complementary alternatives to appraise the performance of public health programs, mainly focusing on the implementation process involved rather than on measuring the impact of such actions.QE is an alternative tool that can be used to illustrate and understand the process faced when executing health programs. It can also lead to useful suggestions to modify its implementation from the stakeholders’ perspectives, as it uses a qualitative approach that considers participants as reflective subjects, generators of meanings. This implies that beneficiaries become involved in an active manner in the evaluated phenomena with the aim of improving the health programs or services that they receive. With this work we want to encourage evaluators in the field of public health to consider the use of QE as a complementary tool for program evaluation to be able to identify areas of opportunity to improve programs’ implementation processes from the perspective of intended beneficiaries. Key words: Qualitative evaluation, qualitative research, health programs, health care services (Published: 22 August 2014) Citation: Int J Qualitative Stud Health Well-being 2014, 9 : 24417 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v9.24417

Qualitative evaluation: a critical and interpretative complementary approach to improve health programs and services.

La promocion de la salud promueve potenciar y fortalecer recursos mas que solo centrarse en la prevencion de enfermedades. Este trabajo presenta la descripcion de una experiencia con mujeres en el campo de la promocion de la salud con una aproximacion de clinica-comunitaria. Se utilizo la metodologia de la Investigacion Accion Participativa con tecnicas como talleres participativos, cuestionarios, entrevistas, sesiones terapeuticas individuales y equipos reflexivos. Los resultados incluyen un analisis de la experiencia a partir de la propuesta de Pancer y Nelson (1996) desde una perspectiva de promocion de la salud basada en la comunidad y apoyandose en elementos de psicologia clinica comunitaria. La discusion enfatiza la importancia de la participacion activa de la gente y privilegiar la profundidad y no solo la cobertura como estrategia que posibilite cambios reales a mediano y largo plazo.

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Trabajo colaborativo con mujeres: Una experiencia en clínica comunitaria

Over the past decades, several research inquiries have attempted to address the implications of international migration on social and family nuclei in both migrants’ countries of origin and destination. These projects have established positive and negative consequences beyond economic repercussions. Stemming from this perspective, the objective of this research is to ascertain elementary-school children’s perceptions of migration as well as the meanings that they ascribe to it. The technique -employed with fourth, fifth, and sixth graders in the states of Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacan, Yucatan, and Zacatecas- consisted of a thematic drawing regarding the relationship between migration and family as well as the development of a brief story related to the drawing. Content analysis of 664 drawings revealed four main themes. The first focuses the concept of migration from the participants' perspectives; the second deals with the contrast between the place of origin and destination; the third focuses on the US-Mexico border crossing; and the fourth discusses the positive and negative aspects that participants attribute to migration. The results emphasize that children perceive the phenomenon as something real: as part of their everyday lives and as a tangible part of their immediate surroundings. However, there are still pending agendas such as the construction of more positive systemic strategies and interventions to deal with negative effects and to help building healthier family environments in contexts of widespread international migration.

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Migración a los Estados Unidos: una mirada desde los niños y niñas mexicanos

Se presenta el analisis de una experiencia de trabajo clinico con mujeres, desde la perspectiva de una psicologia clinica incluyente y promotora de la salud, que no solo busca la cura o prevencion de enfermedades. Se trabajo desde un paradigma cualitativo con metodologia de IAP, que reflejara que el trabajo clinico es posible en un contexto comunitario, con el involucramiento y la participacion activa de las personas. El trabajo se enmarca en el modelo colaborativo que privilegia el lenguaje como elemento constructor y transformador de la realidad. La practica desarrollo un ejercicio de reflexion, con sentido critico, sobre la salud y su promocion. El proposito de estas conversaciones terapeuticas fue contribuir a la ampliacion de alternativas que impactaran en el bienestar de las participantes, es decir, el fin fue la optimizacion de los recursos de las personas.

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Análisis crítico de la experiencia de un trabajo colaborativo con mujeres

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Teresita Castillo León

Papers

Qualitative evaluation: a critical and interpretative complementary approach to improve health programs and services.

Trabajo colaborativo con mujeres: Una experiencia en clínica comunitaria

Migración a los Estados Unidos: una mirada desde los niños y niñas mexicanos

Análisis crítico de la experiencia de un trabajo colaborativo con mujeres

Diagnóstico de Competencias Profesionales para el Trabajo en Equipos Interdisciplinarios en una Unidad de Salud