Introduction Welcome to Consultancy Unit Update! This month’s update focuses on the effective development of resource centres; and the need for monitoring and evaluation. In STAFF PROFILE we talk to Victoria Richardson (Information Systems Officer), and Christine Kalume (IP&M Team Leader) about the launch of SOURCE and their role in Healthlink Worldwide. As usual there is also a letters page. Update Mission: The update aims to provide an insight into the range and scope of services available to clients, and to enable general readers to follow the progress of the consultancy unit, in accordance with Healthlink’s drive toward greater transparency. Special feature: Development of resource centres.. The whole story!!! Background Since its foundation in 1977, Healthlink Worldwide has supported primary health care as a means of achieving health for all, regardless of class, gender and race. Information plays an important part in the wider learning process-helping health workers to understand the context of their work, follow new approaches, undertake new responsibilities, improve their practice and remind them of basic concepts. According to Victoria Richardson, resource centres have an important part to play in improving access to information and so one of Healthlink Worldwide’s key strategies has been to develop a resource and a range of information services to focusing on the practical aspects of implementing primary health care programmes, and to provide technical support to resource centres. Healthlink Worldwide has since supported the development of resource centres in a number of countries, primarily africa, Asia and the Middle East. Who needs information??? Health, rehabilitation and community workers, educators, researchers, policymakers, managers, local communities and self-help groups all need information. Information is especially important for training health workers. There is plenty of evidence that access to the right information at the right time can mean the difference between life and death. Former executive director of UNICEF, James Grant, estimated that getting medical and health knowledge to those who need it, and applying it, could have prevented 34 million deaths each year in the late 1980s. Health sector reforms, changing disease patterns, and advances in technology make it vitally important that everyone involved in health care and promotion has access to relevant information-not only during their initial training, but throughout their working lives, to enable them to keep up-to-date and develop their skills. A resource centre is… a resource centre.. is a resource centre… A resource centre is much more than a collection of well organised materials. A resource centre actively seeks to share information that it contains and is concerned with equity with regard to information provision. Resource centre staff encourage people to use the materials, which should be varied and responsive to the needs of its user population. A resource centre should aim to: · create a pleasant environment for learning · contain a relevant and accessible collection of resource materials (based on the actual needs of users) · provide a range of information services · encourage people to use the information in the resource centre · help users gain access to information from other sources. How can resource centres help??? Information plays an important part in the wider learning process – helping health workers to understand the context of their work, follow new approaches, undertake new responsibilities, improve their practice and remind them of basic concepts. Learning takes place not only at workshops or on training courses, but also through discussions with colleagues, practical experience, and consulting newsletters, books and audiovisual materials. Resource centres can support a wide range of learning activities by making information available. By helping health workers learn, they can play a valuable part in improving the health of a nation. A concern for equity - a key principle of primary health care - means that information, like health care, should be accessible to all. But in many developing countries, access to information is limited, especially information relevant to local conditions. Locally produced information is often unavailable, while information produced outside the local area may be inappropriate or too expensive. A resource centre collects and organises materials that are useful to a particular group of people, such as health workers. Materials may be very varied, including training manuals, handbooks, reference books, directories, leaflets, posters, games, videos and samples of equipment. Development organisations usually prefer the term ‘resource centre’ to ‘library’ to emphasise that this is an active, attractive place where people can relax and enjoy themselves, talk to each other and take part in meetings and training activities. SOURCE International Information Support Centre About SOURCE SOURCE is an international information support centre designed to strengthen the management, use, and impact of information in health and disability. SOURCE has been developed from a merger of two resource centres—that of an academic institution, the Centre for International Child Health (CICH), and that of a development organisation, Healthlink Worldwide. It is also managed and supported by Handicap International and Teaching-aids at Low Cost (TALC). The combined information support centre is designed to meet the information needs of individuals and organisations working in health, disability and development worldwide. These include, researchers and students, non-governmental and governmental organisations, disabled peoples’ organisations, and health workers. SOURCE collection SOURCE houses a unique collection of over 20,000 resources. The collection focuses on issues around the management, practice and communication of health and disability. Materials include books, journals, manuals, reports, posters, videos and CD-ROMs. Many materials are produced in developing countries, and include both published and unpublished literature, not easily available elsewhere in the UK. In addition, there are over 400 international journals and practical newsletters, many produced in developing countries. Subject areas include: · Adolescent health · Child health and development · Disability issues and community-based rehabilitation · Evaluation · Health education · Health sector reform · HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections · Information management · Non-communicable diseases · Planning and management · Primary health care · Poverty and health · Programme implementation · Sexual health and sexuality · Training phic database : The collection may be searched using the SOURCE bibliographic database at www.asksource.org For those unable to visit SOURCE, references to materials include details of the publisher and distributors and ISBN so that people can obtain copies for their local libraries, book suppliers or direct from publishers. SOURCE’s bibliographic database complements commercial databases in that a high proportion of materials are not recorded in other databases. SOURCE also offers a searchable electronic database of organisations – such as publishers, distributors, training organisations, and resource centres – working in health and disability worldwide,. This contacts database has proved invaluable to researchers. The TALC Bookshop is based in SOURCE We are the only place in the UK where books and other teaching materials published and distributed by TALC (Teaching-aids at Low Cost) are available for sale. Volunteers are available to help with enquiries and sales between 10.00and 16.00 ONLY. SOURCE is a starting point for new digital initiatives involving a range of stakeholders including CICH students and researchers, Healthlink Worldwide ‘s partner organisations and Handicap International’s projects worldwide. For example, SOURCE plans to develop services to support distance education courses for CICH students. Location: SOURCE is located on the second floor of the Institute of Child Health within The Friends of the Children of Great Ormond Street Medical Library, Guilford Street, London. Visitors to SOURCE can also access materials available in this library. For further information contact: Anna Mitman SOURCE International Information Support Centre Address Website: www.asksource.org.uk 2. Launch 31 October at Institute of Child Health from 5pm-7pm. There will also be orientation visits to look around the centre jn the morning and afternoon, for those unable to make the launch, as well as from 5-6pm during the launch event. 3. Website http://www.asksource.org Offers access to the SOURCE databases – Bibliographic and Contacts and will link to other key websites. The website offers access to the SOURCE databases – the bibliographic database including references of books, journals, manuals, reports, posters, videos and CD-ROMs, etc. Many materials are produced in developing countries, and include both published and unpublished literature, not referenced on other databases. Contacts database, database of organisations – such as publishers, distributors, training organisations, and resource centres – working in the field of health and disability worldwide. Links to other key websites and electronic publications on health and disability in developing countries. The Resource Centre Manual Available in print - see pubs list for cost. And free as HTML and PDF documents on the Healthlink website. The need for the manual originated out of a desire to capture Healthlink Worldwide’s experience and knowledge in this area. The manual became more of a priority, and was assigned more planned time, when the need became more apparent (as a result of project work and enquiries etc.), and the primary target audience of trainers was clarified. Using the Resource Centre Manual, Healthlink has been involved in workshops in Mozambique and Jordan. As part of this, the manual was translated into Portuguese and Arabic for use by participants. In Jordan 13 participants from the Middle East region - Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine - came together for a 6-day workshop on setting up and managing a resource centre, facilitated by trainers from Healthlink Worldwide and the Institute of Community and Public Health (ICPH) at the university of Birzeit in Palestine. Lessons learned: ·The target audience and purpose of the manual should be clear from the outset. ·Clear project team -It is important to identify the key members of a project team early on, to ensure that all aspects of the project are planned and included in the work plan development. ·Planning -It is important to have a realistic expectation of what can be carried out in relation to other work loads i.e. prioritisation, work plans, risk assessment etc. ·Treat it as an ongoing project, not just a publication -The content will change with time, and the development and updating of a manual to meet the needs of users will continue to be an ongoing activity -Re-evaluation of the target audience is very important, and provides a clearer vision for the continuation and planning of the work. · ‘Field testing ’ is important. – -through the work done with partners, through training courses, and in general meetings and enquiries. ·Plan for all aspects -Production, distribution and evaluation -electronic formats of publications are becoming an additional stage in the production process, and an additional issue to consider in relation to the distribution and evaluation of materials -Promotion and marketing Monitoring and evaluaton.. how??? Information sharing and networking are hard to monitor, but the best way to do it is … ..from the beginning- it is essential that information sharing and networking be built into project design form the start and not simply tagged on a the end. Similarly, monitoring and evaluation should be planned from the start by deciding on what you are trying to achieve, how you will know know whether you have done so and how (and when) you are going to review progress …at a variety of levels. For example, if seeking to monitor a publication, you need to consider its · internal quality · usage · impact ..using both quantitative and qualitative methods STAFF PROFILE: Victoria Richardson (INFORMATION SYSTEMS OFFICER). This months profile focuses on Healthlink Worldwide’s Information Systems Officer, Victoria Richardson. Victoria is post-graduate in information science and has worked in the Information Management field for the past seven years. Over that period, Victoria has developed her expertise in a range of information media, including website development, database design and use of email lists. In addition to this, Victoria has used her wide experience of resource centre development by acting as facilitator in related training workshops in the Middle East (Middle East Resources and Information Training (MERIT) workshop) as well as for capacity building with Healthlink Worldwide’s partners in Africa (Kenya AIDS NGOs Consortium (KANCO) and India (Child Health Information Network). Types of technical support Victoria has been able to provide include: · reviewing resource centre services and systems · promoting use of the resource centre · training in setting up and managing a bibliographic database · use of electronic communication as a tool for sourcing and disseminating information · providing support in developing contacts database to track AIDS organisations in Kenya and East Africa. More recently, Victoria has contributed to the Healthlink Worldwide Resource Centre Manual and has been involved in reviewing Healthlink’s resource centre services and planning a new international information support centre-SOURCE- in partnership with the Institute of Child Health, London. “At SOURCE”.. says Victoria..” I will play a key role in building the electronic services to compliment the established physical collection of international health and disability materials”. Healthlink Next months issue: We talk to Heather Payne (Regional Link Co-ordinator S. Asia), about her role in Healthlink Worldwide. Special feature: Newsletter development for Amar Jyoti in Delhi, India. Welcome to CUU Letters! This is your opportunity to talk about consultancy issues, and share your views with other readers. The response so far has been extremely postive. Here are some examples. Next issue is out October 2001! Dear Dee, Thank you for your email and the copy of the new monthly update for Healthlink Worldwide’s Consultancy Unit. The document is informative and it enables us - the partners and collaborators to understand the working of Healthlink Worldwide and provides a forum for experience sharing. We will be glad to receive future issues of the publication. Allan Ragi Kenya AIDS NGOs Consortium