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. 2020 Aug 31;20(1):68.
doi: 10.1186/s12873-020-00362-7.

Harnessing inter-disciplinary collaboration to improve emergency care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): results of research prioritisation setting exercise

Fiona E Lecky  1 , Teri Reynolds  2 , Olubukola Otesile  1 , Sara Hollis  2 , Janette Turner  1 , Gordon Fuller  1 , Ian Sammy  3 , Jean Williams-Johnson  4 , Heike Geduld  5 , Andrea G Tenner  6 , Simone French  4 , Ishtar Govia  4 , Julie Balen  1 , Steve Goodacre  1 , Sujan B Marahatta  7 , Shaheem DeVries  8 , Hendry R Sawe  9   10 , Mohamed El-Shinawi  11 , Juma Mfinanga  12 , Andrés M Rubiano  13   14 , Henda Chebbi  15 , Sang Do Shin  16 , Jose Maria E Ferrer  17 , Mashyaneh Haddadi  18 , Tsion Firew  19   20 , Kathryn Taubert  21 , Andrew Lee  1 , Pauline Convocar  22 , Sabariah Jamaluddin  23 , Shahzmah Kotecha  24 , Emad Abu Yaqeen  25 , Katie Wells  26 , Lee Wallis  27
Affiliations

Harnessing inter-disciplinary collaboration to improve emergency care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): results of research prioritisation setting exercise

Fiona E Lecky et al. BMC Emerg Med. .

Abstract

Background: More than half of deaths in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) result from conditions that could be treated with emergency care - an integral component of universal health coverage (UHC) - through timely access to lifesaving interventions.

Methods: The World Health Organization (WHO) aims to extend UHC to a further 1 billion people by 2023, yet evidence supporting improved emergency care coverage is lacking. In this article, we explore four phases of a research prioritisation setting (RPS) exercise conducted by researchers and stakeholders from South Africa, Egypt, Nepal, Jamaica, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Colombia, Ethiopia, Iran, Jordan, Malaysia, South Korea and Phillipines, USA and UK as a key step in gathering evidence required by policy makers and practitioners for the strengthening of emergency care systems in limited-resource settings.

Results: The RPS proposed seven priority research questions addressing: identification of context-relevant emergency care indicators, barriers to effective emergency care; accuracy and impact of triage tools; potential quality improvement via registries; characteristics of people seeking emergency care; best practices for staff training and retention; and cost effectiveness of critical care - all within LMICs.

Conclusions: Convened by WHO and facilitated by the University of Sheffield, the Global Emergency Care Research Network project (GEM-CARN) brought together a coalition of 16 countries to identify research priorities for strengthening emergency care in LMICs. Our article further assesses the quality of the RPS exercise and reviews the current evidence supporting the identified priorities.

Keywords: Emergency care systems; Global Health; Low resource settings; Quality indicators; Research prioritisation.

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Conflict of interest statement

FEL,OO, LAW report grants and non-financial support from Global Challenge Research Fund, during the conduct of the study.

TR reports grants from Global Challenge Research Fund, personal fees from World Health Organisation, during the conduct of the study.

SH,JKT,JB,SG,AL report grants from Global Challenge Research Fund, during the conduct of the study.

GF,HG,FS,IG, SBM,SDV,HRS,JM, MES report non-financial support from Global Challenge Research Fund, during the conduct of the study.

SG chairs the National Institute for Health Research HTA Commissioning Committee and is Deputy Director of the HTA Programme.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Wheel of Research Priority Setting Exercises (This figure was published in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology,Volume number 66(5), Nasser M, Ueffing E, Welch V, Tugwell P, An equity lens can ensure an equity-oriented approach to agenda setting and priority setting of Cochrane Reviews, Pages 511–521. Copyright© Elsevier Inc. 2013)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Four phases of Global Emergency Care Research Network Research Prioritisation Setting Exercise
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Sixteen countries participating in Global Emergency Care Research Network (GEMCARN) Research Priority Setting Exercise (Highlighted Red = GEMCARN partners, Blue = GEMCARN collaborators) Map taken from copyright free image https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/copyright/imagesource, country locators added with photoshop
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Seven highest ranking Emergency Care research questions in LMICs. Figure created using canva graphic design software https://about.canva.com/license-agreements/free-media/
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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