Insights from IMCHA’s research and policy engagement work in Tanzania

Abstract

The design of the Innovating for Maternal and Child Health in Africa (IMCHA) initiative prioritized knowledge translation and research uptake as key objectives in all projects. The project design insisted using ‘implementation research’ – an approach that puts heavy emphasis on testing innovations in real-life settings. It also encouraged uptake by embedding decisionmakers in research teams. The case study reviewed in this brief, identifies benefits of having multiple teams working in one country, which stemmed from the initiative’s conscious efforts to coordinate researchers and create the conditions for cooperation.