Table 1
Nominal Group Technique Participants’ Self-identified roles.
| Group (N = 134) | Number (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Implementing partners (IP) | 65 | (%) |
| Research institutions | 18 | |
| Policy-makers | 16 | |
| IP and researchers | 25 | |
| IP and policy-makers | 1 | |
| Researchers and policy-makers | 2 | |
| IP, researchers and policy-makers | 5 | |
| Other | 2 | |
Table 2
Coalesced themes of training barriers and suggested solutions.
| Barriers | Solutions |
|---|---|
| 1. Poor mentorship | Increase opportunity to identify mentors (support conference attendance, like NISA) |
| 2. Inadequate training/lack of organized curriculum | Research module associated with institutions; create a forum for research related questions |
| 3. Inaccessible opportunities | Training/curriculum led by NISA, including appropriate research curriculum in educational settings |
| 4. Lack of government funding | Increase government funding; advocate for higher appropriations for research, dedicate specific funds in grants for training research assistants |
| 5. Lack of interest and motivation | Increase pay for research assistants and coordinator positions to attract interest, create awareness of a potential career path for RA and RC positions, make training opportunities more flexible example: use online webinars |
| 6. Lack of research culture | Use of social media to highlight research findings in Nigeria, more collaboration between research/academic institutions and non-academic/research healthcare organizations |
Table 3
Top-ranked barriers and solutions by order of importance.
| Top Barriers | Top Solutions |
|---|---|
| 1. Research Assistants and Coordinators feeling overwhelmed because research is not their primary job | Include appropriate research curriculum at all levels of education |
| 2. Research seems inaccessible especially to young people and outside academic settings | Increase funding for research assistant positions |
| 3. Inadequate funding | Increase pay for Research Assistants and Coordinators positions |
| 4. Defining qualification and selection process for research assistants/coordinators | Create awareness and advocacy for need for research assistants and coordinators |