Developing a people-centred health systems research methodology

Dr Lucia D’Ambruoso leads of programme of research supported by the Health Systems Research Initiative from the MRC, ESRC, Welcome Trust. The research addresses recent estimates that two-thirds of the world's deaths pass unrecorded, by improving systems to record and report on deaths that occur outside clinics or without registration.

Through improved data, the work aims to improve the ability health systems to respond to the needs of vulnerable and excluded populations through partnership approaches with communities and researchers.

Media Coverage

• Improving data improving health: Verbal autopsy for health systems strengthening
• Worldwide, 65% of deaths go uncounted – here’s how to change that
• When communities help authorities tally births and deaths, health care equalises
• Engaging with communities can help tackle poverty linked health problems

Engagement

• Improving data improving health: Verbal Autopsy for health systems strengthening
  University College London - October 2016
• Whose voices count? Doing research on the health of the poor
  Part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science - November 2016
• Health systems research: developing partnerships to understand and improve health
  Organised by: MRC/Wits-Agincourt Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand and Centre for Global Development, University of Aberdeen - November 2016
• Creating new multi-site, multi-sectoral research collaborations in HDSS
  INDEPTH Dissemination Event 2016, Kampala, Uganda - November 2016

Papers

• Brooks C, D’Ambruoso L, Kazimierczak K, Ngobeni S, Twine R, Tollman S, Kahn K, Byass P (2017). Introducing visual participatory methods to develop local knowledge on HIV in rural South Africa. BMJ Global Health 2017 accepted forthcoming
• Wariri O, D’Ambruoso L, Twine R, Ngobeni S, Van Der Merew M, Spies B, Kahn K, Tollman S (2017). Initiating participatory action research in health and demographic surveillance. Journal of Global Health 7:010413. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5475314/pdf/jogh-07-010413.pdf
• D'Ambruoso, L., Kahn, K., Wagner, R., Twine, R., Spies, B., Van Der Merwe, M., Gomez-Olive, X., Tollman, S. & Byass, P. (2016). 'Moving from medical to health systems classifications of deaths: extending verbal autopsy to collect information on the circumstances of mortality'. Global Health Research and Policy, vol 1, 2. http://ghrp.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41256-016-0002-y
• Hullur, N., D'Ambruoso, L., Edin, K., Wagner, R., Ngobeni, S., Kahn, K., Tollman, S. & Byass, P. (2016). 'Community perspectives on HIV, violence and health surveillance in rural South Africa: a participatory pilot study'. Journal of Global Health, vol 6, no. 1, 010406. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4871061/pdf/jogh-06-010406.pdf