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Table 3 Definition and examples of network ties

From: Connecting healthcare professionals in Central America through management and leadership development: a social network analysis

 

Definition

Example 1

Example 2

Information sharing

Exchange information by email, telephone, text messages, face-to-face get-togethers, public events, online meetings, webinars, or field visits.

Note: CAHI organizes multiple events to support these sharing opportunities.

Director (MD) of one of the principal public hospitals in Panama (Gen_5) visited the Project Coordinator (nurse) of an Ambulatory Care Hospital in a public hospital in Costa Rica (Gen_4). The intention was to learn from her experience to replicate the project in Panama, including information about the implementation challenges; financial, infrastructure and human resources requirements; and lessons learned during launching and first months of the hospital.

An industrial engineer from Honduras (Gen_3), an MD from El Salvador (Gen_1), were the speakers of a panel discussion (online) where they both presented their projects on health interventions for teenagers to the CAHI fellows. As part of the preparation, they shared information about their projects, including strategies on how to approach teenagers at social risk, and the challenges of partnering with organization from different sectors (government, NGO, and for-profit organizations)

Mentorship

An assignment to support a CAHI fellow by providing guidance and recommendations based on personal knowledge and experience.

Note: CAHI invites particular alumni to become mentors based their expertise on a specific topic, potential value-added for a fellow’s project, and mentees’ expressed needs

Costa Rican information systems engineer (Gen_1) mentored technology focus projects in during multiple cohorts.

Costa Rican industrial engineer working in public hospitals (Gen_2) mentored a Panamanian MD working at the social security (Gen_5) leading an initiative to decrease waiting lists in public hospitals

Joint projects

Coordination of efforts and resources for the implementation of joint projects or initiatives.

A Costa Rican psychologist working as Executive Director of a nonprofit organization promoting healthy behaviors in teenagers via an online platform (Gen_2) and a Costa Rican MD working as a Social Security Director of a health region (Gen_1) are partnering to promote the use of the platform to prevent risky behavior in this geographic area—where violence and poverty are higher than in the rest of the country.

Costa Rican information systems engineer working as the Social Security Medical Record Director (Gen_4) and the Program Coordinator of a public palliative care hospital implemented a project for remote patient care using high technology devices and telemedicine systems.