{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T05:45:18Z","timestamp":1775713518850,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,11]],"date-time":"2024-12-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1733875200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":10,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000272","name":"National Institute for Health and Care Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NIHR (17\/63\/125)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NIHR (17\/63\/125)"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000272","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000272","name":"National Institute for Health and Care Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NIHR Award ID: NIHR300457"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NIHR Award ID: NIHR300457"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000272","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Glob Health"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,25]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>There has been much critical reflection among global health researchers about how power imbalances between high-income countries and low- and middle-income country collaborators are perpetuated through research programmes. Research capacity strengthening (RCS) is considered both a mechanism through which to redress structural power imbalances in global health research and a vehicle for their perpetuation. This paper examines the RCS programme of a multi-county study on violence against women, focussing on how it addressed power imbalances between countries and the challenges involved in doing so. It provides specific examples and lessons learnt.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>18 semi-structured interviews were conducted online with group members from all five countries involved in the collaboration between April and June 2020. Reflexive thematic analysis, with inductive and deductive approaches was adopted.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Findings<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Participants articulated their understandings of RCS as an opportunity for (1) mutual learning, understanding and collaboration and (2) personal and team career development. Participants perceived the RCS programme activities to simultaneously reinforce and challenge power asymmetries within global health research. Power dynamics within the RCS programme operated across three levels; the global health research environment, the research group level and within individual country teams. Participants described structural barriers at all three levels, but felt there were more opportunities to challenge power imbalances at the research group level.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Despite a strong commitment to addressing power imbalances through the RCS programme, progress was often hampered by the fact that these inequalities reflected broader structural issues in global health, as seen within Healthcare Responding to Violence and Abuse. The programme sometimes faced tensions between enhancing researchers\u2019 careers while building capacity under the current model and creating social value or challenging epistemic and normative structures. Participants clearly expressed concerns about power imbalances within the partnership and were keen to address them through the RCS programme. This led to a steep learning curve and significant adaptations within the RCS programme to navigate these issues within existing structural limitations.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2024-015376","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,12]],"date-time":"2024-12-12T23:12:02Z","timestamp":1734045122000},"page":"e015376","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Research capacity strengthening methods and meanings: negotiating power in a global health programme on violence against women"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2668-8881","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nerissa","family":"Tilouche","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Beatriz","family":"Kalichman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Sao Paulo University, Sao Paulo, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6412-696X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sandi","family":"Dheensa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Evelina","family":"Rossi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Claire","family":"Hawcroft","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ana Flavia","family":"d'Oliveira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Sao Paulo University, Sao Paulo, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Heba","family":"Owda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, West Bank, State of Palestine"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9966-8208","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Loraine J","family":"Bacchus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025072915093070000_9.12.e015376.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"630","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(13)62407-1","article-title":"The political origins of health inequity: prospects for change","volume":"383","author":"Ottersen","year":"2014","journal-title":"The Lancet"},{"key":"2025072915093070000_9.12.e015376.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pgph.0002103","article-title":"Global health and the elite capture of decolonization: On reformism and the possibilities of alternate paths","volume":"3","author":"Krugman","year":"2023","journal-title":"PLOS Glob Public Health"},{"key":"2025072915093070000_9.12.e015376.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)32417-X"},{"key":"2025072915093070000_9.12.e015376.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Adams V . 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