Seva Canada supports eye health institutions to develop programs that work. We’ve invested heavily in building program partner capacity to collect high-quality clinical and administrative data. Proper analysis of this data provides more efficient and equitable services to the community we serve. Despite these efforts, basic monitoring and evaluation capacity development has been slow in most settings. In an effort to improve monitoring, evaluation and operational research capacity at program partner eye hospitals, Seva has launched the Evidence Informed Practice (EIP) program.
This is all in effort to make your support go further, and bring better vision care, to more people, who really need it. Started in late 2019, and developed in conjunction with Seva Foundation and the Indian Institute of Public Health—Hyderabad, the EIP program teaches research skills and helps to develop a supportive research environment through leadership investment, data collection and integrity, and research skills development. The program includes seminars, training workshops and mentorship by experts in hospital administration and research methods from the Indian Institute for Public Health.
The EIP program recognizes the central role of hospital leadership in developing eye care programs, establishing high-quality administrative and financial data systems, and using collected data to optimize program performance. In addition, multiple staff within the hospital are trained in research methods and biostatistics, as well as in designing, conducting, analysing and publishing their studies.
To date, four hospitals have published research from their initial studies conducted through the EIP program in peer-reviewed journals. The future of this program will focus on generating administrative data to initiate rapid cycle improvements, and will include new partnerships with expert groups in South Asia and other regions to work side-by-side with eye hospital staff.
