Looking Back at 2023 to Build Momentum in 2024: A Year in Review
2023 was a pivotal year for the Implementation Science Collaborative (ISC). We saw engagement within and across thematic area networks. As an example, during the 2023 International Maternal Newborn Health Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, the ISC led a session discussion which identified gaps and opportunities to advance the intersection of maternal health and mental health evidence-to-policy efforts. Evidence was at the core of a violence against children resolution passed in February after the East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community’s (ECSA-HC’s) Best Practices Forum. And, in March, during the Tanzania Nursing and Midwifery Leaders Forum, partners presented implementation evidence from case study findings to push for more action in promoting respectful and compassionate care. A new connection was forged with research and training institutions from Poland, Ukraine, and Moldova. The ISC supported a consultation hosted the Institute for Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw, to address evidence-informed community-based mental health interventions targeting vulnerable, and conflict affected contexts. New, critical knowledge products emerged as well in 2023, with the International Society of Wheelchair Professional’s soft launch of WHO Wheelchair Provision Guidelines, publication of a data-to-action case study led by Universitas Indonesia, and launch of the IMAGINA Research Center website, an knowledge hub spearheaded by ISC anchor partner, Universidad de los Andes. IMAGINA is a multidisciplinary collaboration platform that seeks to impact the well-being of children and adolescents through research, communication, capacity development and public policy, recruiting children and young people as stakeholders in the process. The ISC looks forward to building momentum on all of this partner-driven activity. Stay tuned to ISforGH for continued updates throughout 2024. |