An outline of our recommended actions for more equitable research practice and the steps we took to make those changes
| Recommendations for more equitable research practice | Steps we took to achieve this |
| Create a cohesive team environment | Step 1. Research assistants in Kenya, the UK and Tanzania undertook online training individually before starting the project. Step 2. To help junior researchers across all sites feel more connected to the team while working online, both their direct supervisors and the Project PIs met with them via video call to introduce themselves and provided various mediums they could use to contact them. Step 3. PIs and direct supervisors in Kenya, Tanzania and the UK made themselves available often to support junior team members virtually in adjusting to remotely working on this study. |
| Create opportunities for all researchers to participate in research administration decisions | Step 1. Kenyan and Tanzanian research assistants were asked by research leadership in Kenya, Sweden, Tanzania and the UK to make suggestions about the most appropriate time to collect data and the mode of data collection (in-person vs video call vs phone call). Step 2. Kenyan and Tanzanian researchers were invited to share thoughts on risks they faced to their physical safety from COVID-19 at general weekly team meetings. Step 3. During weekly data reflection meetings with British and Kenyan senior researchers, Kenyan and Tanzanian research assistants were invited to share reflections about witnessing deaths of patients in the hospitals during data collection and ways the rest of the team could support them. |
| Create opportunities for inclusive knowledge creation | Step 1. Senior researchers in the UK proposed weekly data reflection meetings where junior researchers in Kenya and Tanzania who had collected the data could lead discussions on what the data revealed. Step 2. Senior researchers in Kenya, the UK, Sweden and Tanzania reviewed data analysis presentations created by junior researchers across all the sites and supported them in presenting our findings to participants. Step 3. Participants at all study sites were offered the opportunity to hear these presentations and provide feedback on findings before they were finalised during data sense checking meetings. Step 4. All junior researchers in POETIC were invited to propose ideas for peer-reviewed papers based on the data analysed and supported by senior researchers to submit these papers for publication as first authors. Step 5. All junior researchers were offered opportunities to present the study findings to external stakeholders in Kenya, Tanzania and internationally. |
PIs, principal investigators; POETIC, Provision of Essential Treatment in Critical Care in COVID-19.