Strengthening the Link between Research and Practice: An Indian Leprosy NGO

According to this article from Eldis (formerly "id21"), research has found that to make effective international policy on disease control, policymakers need to better understand the needs of communities facing infectious disease. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are often well placed to obtain and provide such information. Through partnerships between academic institutions and NGOs, it may be possible to improve the flow of information and create a more direct link between policy and practice.

This article is based on a report regarding a partnership between LEPRA, an Indian NGO, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) to explore the feasibility and appropriateness of incorporating operations research into the management and decision-making of a leprosy NGO. According to the report, the results highlight the difficulty and complexity of the process, but point to several important themes: partnership, changing perspectives, use of time and priority-setting, identification of gaps in systems, and building institutional and personal capabilities.

The following advantages and challenges to partnership between academic research bodies and NGOs were identified:

• Collaboration helped to build relationships and links between organisations of various types, including for delivery of services.
• It also strengthened the capabilities of both organisations and individuals, and contributed to the process of managing change within the NGO.
• The partnership helped integrate research into practice.
• Advantages for disease control included the identification of gaps in systems and the provision of a mechanism for hearing local community concerns.
• Conducting research can disrupt day-to-day management of an organisation and can be hampered by lack of available staff time.
• Tensions and potential conflict can be caused by lack of clear communication and different approaches between the two organisations.
• Developing relationships demands both trust and respect. There is a need for both sides to understand the process and the problems and conflicts that can be created as part of the work. The process of introducing operational research allowed LEPRA staff to develop new perspectives that contributed to the growth and vision of the organisation. It also helped ensure that the needs and perspectives of the communities they served were being represented appropriately.

Implications for policy include:

• Research partnerships with NGOs are one way to ensure that researchers include the "voices of local people" in the research results, which are used to inform "evidence-based" policy.
• Facilitating a link between communities and decision-makers can be a useful role for academic institutions.
• By linking research and practice, NGOs become more aware of their own importance in the chain of policy development. In this way, research partnerships can provide a focus to change perspectives within an organisation.
• Despite the advantages of NGOs becoming involved in policy development, strong barriers still operate against the exchange of information from the local to the international level. Local NGOs are largely unable to engage in the debate which is conducted in international scientific journals.

Editor's note: This article was based on the full report: "Introducing Operations Research into Management and Policy Practices of a Non-Government Organisation (NGO): A Partnership between an Indian Leprosy NGO and an International Academic Institution [PDF]", Health Policy and Planning 19(2): 80-87, by J.D.H. Porter et al, 2004.