The RESPIRE India team has been busy developing stakeholder engagement activities through a series of workshops and visits. Recent events this December involved RESPIRE partners from across Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore, Chest Research Foundation (CRF) and King Edward Memorial Hospital Research Centre (KEMHRC), Pune. Importance of stakeholder engagement Stakeholder engagement is key to the success of our efforts at RESPIRE, drawing attention to the impact of respiratory disease and ensuring that our research delivers maximum impact. Whether it’s engaging with the local community, public health systems or health care providers – each play an important role. An internal workshop was organised by Professor Rita Isaac, Director of the Rural Unit for Health and Social Affairs (RUHSA) at CMC Vellore, to raise awareness of RESPIRE and the importance of stakeholder engagement amongst RUHSA staff. Attendees engaged well and learnt how to start thinking about involving wider stakeholder groups in their studies, outside the obvious groups. Health care providers workshop in Vellore Image RESPIRE at KEMHRC Pune CMC Vellore is looking at the challenges of diagnosing and treating chronic respiratory conditions in rural Indian communities. A workshop on “Community based Chronic Lung Disease care for rural communities in India” was organised for the physicians in Vellore district on Saturday, 1 December 2018 at the Senate Hall. Discussions throughout the day emphasised the importance of engaging with the right stakeholders to draw attention to the barriers that exist to improving respiratory health in India. As a result of captured suggestions and comments, a crucial outcome was a decision taken by the CMC Vellore team to develop a feasible chronic respiratory disease intervention programme for poor communities. Local site visits in Pune district Stakeholder engagement acitivities were also organised at several sites in the Pune district, including the KEMHRC and the CRF, with local communities and health care providers in Vadu and Manchar districts interacting with patients, providers, clinicians and ASHA (community health) workers. It’s been superb to take part in the community, public health system and health care provider stakeholder engagement activities over the last few days. Thank you to our wonderful hosts. It’s been great to see such a range of partnerships developing. Dr Poonam MalikRESPIRE Partnerships Manager Publication date 19 Feb, 2019
