International Engagement Awards Projects funded ... - Wellcome Trust

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efforts in Kenya, but will serve as an entry point for developing a strategy of public engagement forthe wider research portfolio of the Public Health Group in Nairobi ( Malaria Public Health andEpidemiology Group and the KEMRI-<strong>Wellcome</strong> <strong>Trust</strong> Collaborative Programme, Nairobi) with the aimof improving dialogue between researchers, media and policy partners in Kenya.E sbrooker@nairobi.kemri-wellcome.orgE jmutheu@nairobi.kemri-wellcome.orgValerie CorfieldUniversity of Stellenbosch, South Africa'Catalysing partnerships: the role of science centres as intermediaries between the public andscientists in engagement with biomedical sciences in South Africa.'£29 121This project will build new partnerships between science centres and scientists throughout SouthAfrica and strengthen capacity to build a sustainable network of biomedical science communicatorsversed in best practice principles of public engagement.Training resources developed will beintegrated with the surveyed requirements of target audiences - senior school learners, educatorsand the general public - and the needs of science centre facilitators and scientists. To achieve this,the applicants will formally capture experience and impressions gathered during more than tenyears of involvement in public engagement by the principal applicant and the MTN Sciencentre, inorder to evaluate what works best in a South African setting.This formalised evidence will provideguidelines for workshops for facilitators of the Southern African Association of Science andTechnology Education Centres and for scientists. National experts will expound the principles ofpublic engagement relevant to local audiences at these workshops, which will be held in threegeographically distant science centres, thereby allowing maximum country coverage and supportingpartnership development.E vc1@sun.ac.zaE julie.cleverdon@mtnsciencentre.org.zaDerek FishUnizul Science Centre, South Africa'Smart Science: An HIV/AIDS education initiative aiming to prevent new infections in school goingchildren by encouraging a correct understanding of current health research through a scientificapproach.'£30 000This project will involve the design and implementation of a unique health education initiative whichstresses a correct scientific understanding of the issues surrounding the HIV/AIDS pandemic as thebasis for sensible lifestyle choices. Making use of Unizul Science Centre's well establishedrelationships with rural schools, the project will introduce a health education component intoexisting programmes. The initiative will be aimed at Grade 8 pupils (in their first year of secondaryschool) as they are all taking science, and are vulnerable to infection in the ensuing years ofsecondary school. The project will ensure two in-depth interactions with each of 4000 pupils drawnfrom 25 secondary schools. In addition, the project will work extensively with their teachers toensure that they are in a position to continue the impact long after the visit.E thefish@iafrica.comFiona FlemingActing Against Worms, c/o Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI), Imperial College London, UK'Acting Against Worms'£30 000Acting Against Worms (AAW) is a Ugandan project which aims to implement behavioural controlmeasures through engaging school children and teachers in developing their own drama productions
equiring children to actively take note of detrimental daily activities which precipitate disease.Unlike other health education programmes, AAW requires participants to explore the causes andpreventions of worms through deconstruction of the issues and their re-assembly into plays basedon this information. Plays need to deliver a positive and clear health message. The messages will bereinforced through peer-education with schools acting out their plays in front of an audience ofother schools and also to their local communities. Constructive criticism will be encouraged as partof the learning process. Further dissemination of both methods of public engagement and the healthmessages will be accessible to parents, other health and education leaders and the community whowill be invited to the drama festival. Through guidance from professional drama producers and localcommunity based organisations (CBOs) that practice drama, workshops, rehearsals and ultimatelyperformance, AAW aims to enhance local skills and provide a practical vehicle for public engagementin health on a community level. For more information see the SCI website.E f.fleming@imperial.ac.ukE Beckyoktar@hotmail.comPaul NampalaUganda National Academy of Sciences, Uganda'Integrating results of health research into policy making for improved health services in Uganda'£30 000This project will contribute to evidence-based decision making in the health sector and toimprovements in healthcare systems in Uganda, by promoting dialogue and creating new channelsfor engagement between policy makers (focusing on Members of Parliament), health researchersand other key stakeholders. The project is based on an innovative process known as "MP-pairing".For each year of the three year project, five or more Ugandan MPs will be "paired" with a Ugandanhealth researcher in a relevant area.The researcher will spend time shadowing the MP in Parliamentand visiting his/her constituency, and the MP will visit the researcher's workplace. This will exposeMPs and researchers to the constraints under which each operates and provide new channels forinformation to flow between researchers and MPs. The project will also promote skills developmentas the researcher will be given training in how to communicate research to policymakers. The pairswill each be allocated a specific topic to discuss and will produce a policy briefing for disseminationwithin and outside Parliament. This project draws upon and extends the "MP-scientist" schemepioneered in the UK by the Royal Society and piloted in Uganda in September 2008 by the UgandaNational Academy of Sciences with support from POST and the Royal Society. The project builds onprevious work by UNAS in the area of enhancing public engagement in health research, using the"pairs" to spearhead debates in a variety of contexts, ranging from school events to high leveldiscussions involving journalists, civil society groups, policy makers and academics.E unas@infocom.co.ugE paulnampala@unas.or.ugPieter RemesNational Institute Medical Research, Tanzania'Using participatory radio to disseminate and debate research findings on how parents influencetheir adolescents' health in Mwanza.'£30 000This project will create a series of 12 half-hour radio shows, focusing on the influence of parentadolescentinteractions on adolescent health and health-related behaviours, including HIV and STIrisk, in the Mwanza Region, Tanzania.The shows will feature discussion, phone-in, village interviewsand a 10 minute drama series. It will be broadcast through Radio Free Africa, a Mwanza-based radiostation with a national broadcast reach. The series will be produced through radio workshops andvillage-based fieldwork by a team of health researchers, media practitioners, parents/caregiversfrom rural communities and district representatives.For more information, visit the National
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