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Webinar highlights Pathfinder studies and their applications in Brazil

Fiocruz, Health for all Logo banner. Fiocruz

Webinar highlights Pathfinder studies and their applications in Brazil

What is a Pathfinder Study? Tools and Benefits card of the webinar in 3 languages

The Global Health Network Latin America and Caribbean (TGHN LAC) hosted a seminar about Pathfinder studies entitled "What is a Pathfinder Study? Tools and benefits on 6 August at 11:00 (GMT -3). The Global Health Network was a partner at the webinar. The event focused on the Pathfinder methodology and its application in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Simultaneously translated to Spanish, English and Portuguese, the event brought together people who uses the methodology in their work. The director of The Global Health Network, Trudie Lang, was the chair. The doctoral candidate from the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health at the University of Oxford, Aashna Uppal, was one of the speakers. Such as the data coordinator for Fiocruz at TGHN LAC, Larissa Marques, and Fiocruz researcher at TGHN LAC, Laís Araújo.
The group discussed how the Pathfinder can support researchers and health professionals around the world. Due to the sociopolitical situation in Bangladesh, the TGHN Asia team, icddr'b, was unable to attend the webinar.

What are Pathfinder studies?

The Pathfinder studies are a methodology to understand and apply knowledge of past or current investigations. They intend to identify and record the original study stages. For example, tracking essential metrics such as time and resources, and creating a detailed process map. Additionally, the methodology helps to detect barriers and solutions, as much as capture and share governance tools and processes.

The importance of a Pathfinder study

Trudie Lang began the webinar highlighting the importance of Pathfinder studies in facilitating access for researchers around the world. Moreover, she explained the many possibilities with Pathfinder studies. They can help people to access research resources and give them the ability to adapt studies to regional realities.

The methodology can be useful for new groups or difficult areas with new approaches. "It's like a 'study within a study' or a complementary study," she explained. "Therefore, this is a methodological study that captures research afterwards or can be used 'live' as an action-research approach."

Opportunities in Pathfinder studies

Aashna Uppal was able to talk about the challenges in health research, especially in resource-poor settings, such as limited access to technologies and institutional barriers.
"Solutions for most challenges related to design, operations and reporting in research already exist," said Ashna, facilitating the capture of best practices for future learning. Uppal also highlighted that the Pathfinder methodology can generate new data from existing research and ask new questions about already collected data.

Pathfinder studies cases in Brazil

Fiocruz data coordinator at TGHN LAC, Larissa Marques, presented the application of the methodology in Brazilian research. She gave as examples two investigations: "Born in Brazil 2" and "Vaccine Maré". The "Born in Brazil 2" study investigates women's and newborn reproductive health, while "Vaccine Maré" evaluates the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine in a vulnerable community in Rio de Janeiro, with over 36,000 vaccines administered.

Marques detailed that, to implement the methodology, objectives and alignments were mapped using a tracking tool (Tracker), in addition to a qualitative methodology that integrated document analysis and interviews with key authors. "The mapping not only provided content for other tools but also fostered reflexion amongst researchers," she said.

Larissa mentioned that the Fiocruz group shared the lessons learnt through guides and workshops. Such as an international event with India and Malaysia on research engagement tools. Also, the importance of REDCap software for data capture in "Born in Brazil" and R software for data analysis in "Vaccine Maré" . "The Pathfinder methodology demonstrated flexibility, adapting to the specific needs of each study," Larissa commented.

Future of Pathfinder studies in Latin America and the Caribbean

For the future, Larissa Marques stated the significant potential of Pathfinder studies for research. "There are many results yet to be achieved with the mapping," and that workshops will be offered in Portuguese and Spanish to support those interested in implementing the methodology in their research.


Learn more about the Pathfinder studies Vaccine Maré and Born in Brazil II here.

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