About us

CONNECT is an online network aimed at strengthening the capacity of health workers connecting with research and society. 

 This website recognizes that Health Workers often work within challenging and stressful environments, and that further complexities can exist for health workers and their interactions with patients and colleagues when working at the interface between health institutions and research contexts within society.

 Both the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam and the KEMRI Wellcome Unit in Kenya (KEMRI) have years of experience supporting health staff and fieldworkers, having developed resources focused on skills related to communication, emotional competence and resilience, and stress management. This website has developed as a partnership between OUCRU, KEMRI and The Global Health Network and is a collaborative open-access web forum where health workers, researchers and others can network, share resources, and discuss issues relevant to their context.  As some of the resources have been developed specifically for the Vietnamese context, they are available separately under a Tien Viet section. 

 Connect welcomes contributions, feedback and comments. We may be contacted on:  Connect@TGHN.org

How to use the site

This site is for health workers across the spectrum of health contexts, training/qualifications and years of experience; from those working within the community research context, at regional community health centres, or within larger hospital settings. Some of the resources therefore may be more relevant to specific health worker contexts than others, and where possible we will highlight any specific areas with an identified tag.

FW – Field Workers

HW – Health Workers

 

  1. Sign up (hyperlink) as a member.
  2. Once signed up you will be a member of the Global Health Network community and have access to a range of resources and activities on other member sites, online training courses and resources, and a professional development scheme. 
  3. Access any of the free eLearning courses available through the Global Health Training Centre on a wide range of topics including: 
  1. Visit the Resources and Training tab for articles, reports, training, tools and templates, and information relevant for Connect members.  
  2. Join a discussion group or contribute a blog post via Community.
  3. If you have any suggestions for future resources or improvements to the site, feel free to email the coordinator at connect@tghn.org.

 

 

Working within the consortia: Networking

There are two separate facilities for different types of discussion between members: Blogs and Discussions Groups.

  1. Blogs are open spaces for sharing relevant information, reflections or narratives about experiences or ongoing studies, sharing news items, etc.
  • Many users utilise the blogs spaces for sharing news items, and blogs can be shared across the whole Global Health Network if users wish; hence they are useful ways for sharing information beyond just Connect readers.
  • Any logged-in member can post a blog, simply by clicking Community > Blogs > Write Post.

Blogs can be edited by the author once written, and users can comment on a blog post if they wish to do so.  Anybody can view a blog, even if they are not a member of the Network.

  1. Discussion Groups are places for sharing items requiring feedback, and provide a simply discussion-fora where users can share their information. 
  1. Most discussion groups are open to all, but it is also possible to set up discussion groups, which are closed.  The information in a ‘closed group’ is not accessible to individuals not approved by the person who set up the group.
  2. These ‘closed’ discussion groups can be ‘invite only’ (e.g. the group administrator invites certain individuals only - for example this could be useful for a study team with specified members), or ‘request to join’ (where anyone can join on a request only basis.  This could be useful for example if the people want to start a working group on a specific topic, which is private, but which relevant others can join too). 
  3. Any member can set up a closed discussion group if they wish to do so.

Discussion groups are overseen by The Global Health Network’s operational team to ensure that content and advice remain appropriate and information is high-quality.

Steering committee

The Connect steering committee consists of individuals from OUCRU in Vietnam, KEMRI in Kenya, and The Global Health Network in the UK.

 More details are available by clicking on the name of each individual member.

 

  • Dr Mary Chambers - Head of Public Engagement, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), Viet Nam 
  • Sassy Molineux - Associate Professor employed by Oxford University, UK, based at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) - Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) Kenya 
  • Noni Mumba - Head of Community Engagement Platform, KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP), Kenya. 
  • Trudie Lang - Professor of Global Health Research; Head of the Global Health Network and Senior Research Scientist in Tropical Medicine, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Oxford, UK. 
  • Jaom Fisher - Healthcare Worker Training Project Manager, OUCRU, Vietnam.