Researching education outcomes in Burundi, Malawi, Senegal and Uganda: using participatory tools and collaborative approaches : The Improving Learning Outcomes in Primary Schools (ILOPS) Project | Project methodology

In January 2008, ActionAid, Dr Karen Edge (IOE) and partners in Burundi, Malawi, Uganda and Senegal studied the role of parents and teachers in enhancing learning outcomes. The Improving Learning Outcomes in Primary Schools (ILOPS) Project was supported by the Quality Education in Developing Countries Initiative of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Findings from the ILOPS Project are presented in three separate briefs exploring teacher quality, parental participation and, this paper, exploring our tools and approaches. This paper, primarily designed for practitioner audiences, outlines the participatory research methodology designed by Dr Karen Edge and the strategies employ the methods with a team of 53 senior educational leaders from participating countries. The strategies were designed to bring teams of non-researchers together, to build national-level team capacity and collaboration and support their work in the field by collaborating with all participants to design the overall conceptual framework and methods of the study. In this paper, we provide details on the development and implementation of our approach as well as the lessons learned throughout the process for others interested in following similar approaches. This approach has been employed within several other IOE project, led by Dr Edge. In addition, the approach has influenced the work of ActionAid and other participating stakeholders

Remote Ischemic Preconditioning Does Not Improve the Six Minutes Walk Test Performance in Chronic Heart Failure Patients: a Randomised Pilot Trial

International Journal of Exercise Science 14(2): 1354-1362, 2021. Cycles of ischemia and reperfusion induced with a pressure cuff on a skeletal muscle, also know as remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC), appears to improve performance in different time-trial events in healthy individuals. Our primary goal was to assess the effect of RIPC in heart failure (HF) patients’ functional capacity using the six-minute walk test (6MWT). A randomized crossover design comparing RIPC (4 x five-minutes of upper arm ischemia) to the SHAM procedure was done in 15 patients prior to a 6MWT. The primary outcome measure was the total distance walked in a standardized 6MWT (20m corridor). Metabolic and hemodynamic responses were measured using gas exchange analysis with a portable metabolic analyzer and peripheral skeletal muscle oxygen saturation (smO2) with near-infrared spectroscopy. The total distance travelled during 6MWT was not significantly different between the RIPC (347 ± 63 m) and the SHAM procedure (352 ± 65 m; p = 0.514). Relative oxygen uptake did not change when comparing interventions: 10.26 ± 2.01 ml/kg/min vs 10.69 ± 2.51 ml/kg/min (RIPC vs SHAM, respectively, p = 0.278). As well, no significant differences were observed for heart rate, respiratory exchange ratio, smO2, and ventilation. Even though HF patients tolerated well the RIPC intervention, it did not provide any significant improvement in functional capacity and other physiological parameters in our sample of patients