Field workers at the interface| Sassy Molyneux, Dorcas Kamuya, Philister Adhiambo Madiega, Tracey Chantler, Vibian Angwenyi and P. Wenzel Geissler (2013)
‘There is growing interest in field staff and volunteers’ role at the interface in international research settings and on the implications of their activities and challenges for ethical practice.
In mediating between the often very different priorities and concerns of well-resourced research institutions, and relativity poor communities without good access to quality affordable health care, field workers are not simply neutrally observing, and adhering to formal, externally derived ethical rules, but instead play ‘a vital, creative, and under-recognized role in research and ethics practice’.’
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Enhancing quality and integrity in biomedical research in Africa: an international call for greater focus, investment and standardisation in capacity strengthening for frontline staff. | Francis Kombe and participants of an International Workshop in Kenya on the Role of Frontline Staff in Biomedical Research
‘The integrity of biomedical research depends heavily on the quality of research data collected. In turn, data quality depends on processes of data collection, a task undertaken by frontline research staff in many research programmes in Africa and elsewhere.
The level of skills fieldworkers require to undertake these responsibilities clearly affects the quality of data collected, the ethics of research ‘on the ground’ and the short and long-term acceptability of research.’
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Enhancing fieldworkers’ performance management support in health research: an exploratory study on the views of field managers and fieldworkers from major research centres in Africa. | Kombe F, K, Marsh V, Molyneux S, et al.
‘The important role fieldworkers play in health research can be enhanced if they are given adequate support. The challenges they face require a combination of knowledge, skills, attitude change and ethical values that can be enhanced through structured institutional support and instilling a sense of professional responsibility and moral values to fieldworkers, through ongoing support supervision, interpersonal skills training, and creating space for consultative discussions and experience sharing.’
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