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I have learned that GPP is simply a framework for ensuring that stakeholders are effectively and meaningfully involved in the life cycle of a program / grant/ trial. I have learned that it is more complex than I thought and also hard to get buy-in from internal stakeholder – they view it as a one person job! I think the main thing I have learned, is that some meaningful engagement is better than blindly going ahead with no stakeholder engagement so I am encouraged by that.
We continue to engage with many stakeholders in different forums after and between trials / projects. We work physically in a similar space and therefore our paths regularly cross at meetings, events, and engagements. When we are holding an event or stakeholder meeting, we are sure to invite them. Our organisation also holds the monthly CAB meetings (prevention, treatment, sex worker and youth CABS) on our site and therefore we continue to meet with stakeholders in this way.
Prior to the project being launched (and now there has been a negative reaction in the community to the project) I would have planned a stakeholder gathering (key community members, shop owners, nightclub owner, locals) to dis-spell myths around the MSM project and population. I would inform them of the project goals and objectives and get them on board.
I would also engage the MSM participants to ask them where they experience most stigma and marginalization and seek to address those areas. They could direct/suggest to the research team strategies to dis-spell myths moving forward.
- What implications did the lack of inclusion of clean needles in the prevention package have on trial results?
Participants and advocates raised the issues that not including clean needles in the prevention package resulted in unclear results. A wide array of stakeholders voiced their concerns yet research teams did not adequately follow these up, helping maintain the relationship between stakeholders and the research team – loosing stakeholders trust and respect.
- How can researchers engage stakeholders to better negotiate comprehensive prevention packages tailored to the needs of diverse subgroups?
Listen to the advocates/ stakeholder groups who voice the needs of the subgroups and engage them actively. Follow up and maintain these relationships throughout the whole of the trail.
This is certainly something that is a challenge – buy in has to be gained from stakeholders to ensure the protocol is accepted and implemented. Whilst we will have engaged with the high level stakeholders prior to protocol development, we need to seriously consider how to better this within our setting. I am reading through the above comments to get practical ideas!
I echo the comments of many of my fellow learners – social media like whatsapp/ Facebook are amazing for spreading information about our project – especially when our target audience is adolescent girls and young women! We are continually watching the social media platforms to ensure they are not misused and this is something we are constantly aware of. Like others have mentioned, just as easily as it is to spread a positive message, it is also just as easy to spread a negative one! We have to be aware and alert to what is being posted and also the quality of what messages are out there. As a project team, we are in the process of developing the communications plan to realistically develop strategies to engage our stakeholders but I have no doubt that social media will feature highly in the plan. Overall, there are certainly benefits and harms related to social media.
Thanks Marie for answering my question. I also wanted to hear about where you access the adolescents? Where do you meet and how do you ‘bring them in’? whats the incentive? I know these may seem like easy questions but I would like to see how it works practically at your site. Thanks 🙂
Marie, Thanks for your interesting comments. I wanted to ask you more about getting input from adolescents. You mentioned that you involve adolescents from local organisations but can you outline to me a little about how you approach them to get them to come along and be involved… I would like to hear more about the process to get youths involved. Thanks, Alison
We have used the stakeholder mapping tool to try and unpack the importance of different stakeholders. We have sought to do this in collaboration with the team and received all their input as they may have different view points on the importance/ influence of each stakeholder. It is an on-going process as stakeholders positions may change or the landscape changes and this in turn alters their importance / influence.
We are a long standing research site with longstanding relationships with our stakeholders. Whilst we have a CAB which acts as a good communication channel with our stakeholders in the formative research stage (and all other stages), this channel is not always effectively used. It has been very effective, especially when engaging with the youth CAB for our projects focusing on adolescent girls and young women, a hard target population.
We have done stakeholder mapping for each of our research projects but making this from a paper document, into a reality is hard work. More effort could be made among the team implementing to identify effective strategies of engagement and communication for identified stakeholders, and all seeking to engage stakeholders intentionally.
In my work context, we had a very engaging CAB meeting but have struggled to get a healthy flow of communication from the CAB members to the Project team. It was slow / poor resulting in their vital and useful feedback not being meaningfully inputted into the project. This resulted in a slow disconnect between CAB members who sometimes may see that their input wasn’t implemented and we lose their interest. On a larger scale, the project may have suffered delays because the CAB input may have resulted in a faster, more targeted outcome.
I totally agree with all your comments that GPP plans and stakeholder engagement should be something that is actively understood and practiced by all members of the team. In reality, however, this is a different story. People in my organisation definitely see me as the GPP person and that that is my role (which is it to coordinate GPP strategy and plans) but the idea that one person can be responsible for the engagement, communication and education of all stakeholders is not a realistic or practical. It would be great to indicate to our teams that GPP plans should underlie everything that the project is doing and I agree with Kathrine, that having the sponsor on board for this would go a long way.
Hello everyone!
Great to connect with you all through this course – my name is Alison and I am a Researcher, implementing GPP across the Implementation Science projects we have running at Wits Reproductive HIV and Health Institute (Wits RHI). I am keen to learn from others and apply what I learn to the setting here in Johannesburg South Africa to engage our stakeholders more effectively.
