From 5-6 December 2016, the Institute for Community Health Research organized the Workshop on Evaluation and Strategic planning for Hue Institute for Community Health Research at La Sapinnette Hotel, Dalat City, Lam Dong Province. Delegates were representatives of the Director Boards and coordinators of Provincial Health Departments of Thua Thien Hue, Danang, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Daklak, Khanh Hoa, and Thu Duc District Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City), the Atlantic Philanthropies organization, the external evaluation team from Hanoi Medical University and representatives from QUT, Australia and staff of ICHR, Hue UMP.

A/Prof. Nguyen Vu Quoc Huy – Vice Rector of Hue University of Medicine giving the welcome speech at the workshop

A/Prof. Vo Van Thang – Director of the ICHR giving his welcome remarks to all delegates at the workshop

          A/Prof. Nguyen Vu Quoc Huy – Vice Rector of HUMP has highly appreciated the achievements of ICHR during the last three years (2014-2016). This would be impossible without the endless supports from the QUT, Australia, the Atlantic Philanthropies organization and the efforts of the staffs of the Institute. He also expressed the desire and looked forward to the development the ICHR in the future. Dr. Nguyen Trong Hau – representative of the Atlantic Philanthropies – was also impressed with the ICHR’s achievements and agreed that this was the appropriate time to review what the ICHR has done in recent years and plan appropriate strategy for the near future.

Dr. Doan Vuong Diem Khanh presenting the reivew on activities of the Institute in the past 3 years (2014-2016)

Prof. Michael Dunne reviewed the outstanding achievements of the Institute

          On behalf of the Institute for Community Health Research, Prof. Vo Van Thang, Prof. Michael Dunne and Dr. Doan Vuong Diem Khanh has summarized the activities of the Institute in many aspects, including scientific research, training, international collaboration in the past 3 years, as well as its outstanding achievements, and listening to the feedback from coordinators of the Provincial Health Department and staff of the ICHR. In addition, at the workshop, the ICHR also invited the external evaluation team from Hanoi Medical University to evaluate ICHR’s activities. Delegates did give positive feedback and opinions to the team and discuss actively. .

Dr. Le Thi Thanh Xuan - Representative of the external evaluation team from Hanoi Medical University presenting the results of evaluation of the ICHR 

Representatives of the Partners of ICHR sharing their opinions at the workshop

          Delegates actively discussed and planned the activities for The Institute for Community Health Research in phase 2017-2020. Its vision is to promote the health for communities through the collaborative research with high quality in order to promote the community action, and improve the undergraduate training quality and continuing medical education programs. These objectives are:

          - Improve the health for community through collaborative research with high quality and the quality of undergraduate training and continuing medical education programs.

          - Develop network and long-term plan to ensure the sustainability;

          - Improve the capacity of doing research, evaluation techniques for health care workers in the Central and Highland of Vietnam

          - Improve to build the plan based on evidence in the community health care;

          - Increase the access to open information sources and improve procedures in research ethics review.

          The ICHR listened to the opinion of the Institute’s partners, experience sharing of A/Prof. Luu Ngoc Hoat of the Center for health professional education,  the former vice-rector of the Hanoi Medical University. The delegates also discussed the potential research collaboration with partners from the United States and Australia in 2017 with the presentation of Prof. Ladson Hinton - Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences- School of Medicine University of California Davis, CA; Research on the effects of psychological trauma and adverse conditions on the health of Dr. Do Thi Hanh Trang - QUT, Australia.

A/Prof. Luu Ngoc Hoat was sharing experiences from the Center for Health professional education  

 Prof. Ladson Hinton - Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences School of Medicine University of California Davis, CA

         Ending the conference, A/Prof. Vo Van Thang - Director of the ICHR expressed his gratefulness to the participants involved, and desire to continue to have a long-term cooperation with the existing partners and extend the collaboration to other domestic and international partners. 

Delegates taking souvenir photos at the workshop

Some other images at the workshop:

A/Prof. Nguyen Vu Quoc Huy presenting the certification of appreciation to Prof. Michael Dunne and Mrs Jill Nalder 

A/Prof. Vo Van Thang presenting souvenirs gifts to Prof. Ladson Hinton, A/Prof. Ignacio and Dr. Nguyen Trong Hau

Poster Exhibition of the ICHR at the workshop  

Sharing experience and discussion among partners at the workshop 

The delegates actively involved at the workshop

A/Prof. Ignacio Correa-Velez - Research Department, School of Public Health and Social Work expressing his thought at the workshop.