Asili: Evaluating a novel multi-disciplinary social enterprise intervention on population health in the Democratic Republic of Congo

: 2.003_FOS Innovative, but what about sustainability? Lessons learned in nursing and midwifery workforce development K.N. Hosey, J. Voss, M. Kelley; University of Washington School of Nursing, Seattle, WA, USA, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Program/Project Purpose: Sustainability is a word used in global health to discuss successful projects or interventions, as it is essential for the work to be continued after the initial pilot and development stages. Often this is a challenge in resource-limited settings, especially when funding cycles are finished, donor organizations shift their priorities, or even when there is not sufficient buy-in from stakeholders. Buy-in was never a problem in the development of a continuing and professional development library for nurses and midwives in east, central and southern Africa as the need and interest in having online, mobile-friendly trainings accessible was expressed by leaders in the region. Human resources and infrastructure, however, are the challenges in the sustainability this project. Continued investment by nursing leaders has been underway to make this a lasting resource for the region, as often providers cannot attend in-person trainings in order to stay updated for relicensure purposes. Sustainability of the continuing and professional development library hosted on the East, Central and Southern Africa College of Nursing (ECSACON) website has been the focus of this project since the beginning; however, after the launch of the website in 2014 information technology challenges persisted and as resources dwindled a partially functioning website was the result. This was the leading barrier in seeking donor support to sustain this nearly completed project. Structure/Method/Design: Creation of a sustainability plan is the priority. Meetings and interviews were held with nursing leaders when funding was completed in July 2015. A stakeholder analysis was conducted and another meeting was held with nursing leaders in Harare, Zimbabwe in November 2015 to develop a sustainability plan. Outcome & Evaluation: To date nursing and midwifery support is still high for this project, and continued buy-in will be generated with global health leaders after the November 2015 African Health Profession Regulatory Collaborative for Nurses and Midwives (ARC) Summative Congress Meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, resulting in an updated sustainability plan for the library. Going Forward: Sustainability for this program is key in order for this library to be a lasting resource for nurses and midwives in the region. Funding: This project was supported by the Afya Bora Consortium Fellowship funded by the National Institute of Health, Office of AIDS Research, and Health Resources and Services Administration grant number U91HA06801 and a 2014 Afya Bora Career Development award supplement toKristenHosey from theUniversity ofWashington Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), an NIH funded program under awardnumberP30AI027757which is supportedby the following NIH Institutes andCenters (NIAID,NCI,NIMH,NIDA,NICHD, NHLBI, NIA, NIGMS, NIDDK). Funding for the development of ECSACON’s on-lineCPD librarywasprovidedby theU.S.President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to the Emory University on behalf of The African Health Profession Regulatory Collaborative for Nurses and Midwives (ARC). Abstract #: 2.004_FOS: 2.004_FOS Asili: Evaluating a novel multi-disciplinary social enterprise intervention on population health in the Democratic Republic