Job Opportunity for Field Worker at PHFI in Bengaluru

Brief on the Organization:

The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) is working towards building a healthier India. It is helping to address the limited institutional and systems capacity in India by strengthening education and training, advancing research and technology and facilitating policy and practice in the area of Public Health.  PHFI is headquartered in New Delhi with national presence through its constituent units of regional Indian Institutes of Public Health (IIPHs) and Centers of Applied Research in core public health themes. The Foundation, established in 2006 as a public private initiative, is governed by an independent board comprising of senior government officials, eminent Indian and International academic and leaders, civil society representatives and corporate leaders.

About IIPH-Bangalore:

Under the aegis of PHFI are academic institutions of higher learning known as Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH), which provide interdisciplinary and health system related education and relevant research in prioritised areas of public health, importantly non-communicable diseases (NCDs). IIPH’s Bengaluru’s expertise lies in life course epidemiology, longitudinal studies on the effect of maternal diabetes on offspring and other epidemiological studies on NCDs. IIPH Bengaluru, is particularly, well-known for carrying out some of the most up to date research in NCDs in Karnataka state. We have been selected by the Karnataka Evaluation Authority as a consultant organization and partner with the National Corporate Social (CSR) Responsibility Hub. IIPH has pioneered national and international studies, in collaboration with Harvard University, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Department of Biotechnology and Department of Science and Technology, India Alliance.

Project Brief:

COINCIDE is a collaborative project that aims to evaluate the effects of nutritional, psychosocial and environmental determinants of neurodevelopment and child mental health from Pregnancy-9 years in two diverse Indian settings. The project is led by the Indian Institute of Public Health – Bengaluru in collaboration with Center for Environmental Health, Public Health Foundation of India – Gurgaon, Sangath – Delhi, Institute of Public Health – Bengaluru & St. John’s Research Institute – Bengaluru.

This position is based in Bengaluru, Karnataka within the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) municipality limits.

Deliverables:

Participant recruitment, consenting and field data collection

• Visit households of the project participants to recruit them for the COINCIDE project. Explain the details of the study to the participants using recruitment aids provided and get their signed consent or verbal assent for participation in the study.
• Answer questions that participants have about the study at the time of consenting or connect them to senior study staff as required
• Work with families to plan and schedule appointments for data collection
• Assist in recording GPS coordinates of participant households for ease of participant tracking
• Collect and upload data from parents and children using tablet computers as per standard operating procedures
• Provide referrals and travel support to families meeting referral criteria as per standard operating procedures
• Provide travel support to families to visit other data collection sites
• Assist the phlebotomist to collect blood samples from children
• Assist parents to collect urine samples from children
• Follow and ensure confidentiality of data and ensure secure and timely transfer of the collected data to secure servers
• Support iterative pilot testing of the study tools during the tool adaptation phase. Support in documentation of feedback and insights from the formative phase on participant engagement and understanding of study tools

Participation in training and supervision

• Attend all training sessions and get trained in all study tools to be administered as part of the study.
• Practice administering the study tools on parents and children who volunteer for this purpose
• Attend all supervisory sessions to get feedback on their performance
• Attend all refresher trainings to ensure fidelity to tool administration throughout the duration of the study
• Visit St. John’s Research Institute to get certification on using anthropometry equipment and 24-hour food recall questionnaires

Support project documentation

• Participate in project meetings to provide updates on data collection
• Ensure proper maintenance and storage of all equipments, documents and participatory tokens provided for data collection
• Ensure timely updates and submission of all project related documents and registers
• Support communication with stakeholders
• Provide counselling support to families when required as per training provided
• Accompany senior project staff to field sites and introduce them to the participants for supervisory visits and qualitative data collection
• Maintain a good rapport with health staff (ASHA workers, ANMs, Anganwadi workers) in study sites
• Establish and maintain clear communication and effective working relationships with key stakeholders, including government and non-government agencies, local service providers, and health professionals

Support organisational activities

• Participate in and support activities and meetings related to the project
• Liaise with faculty members and research staff of PHFI and its allied institutes.
• Analysis and documentation of all project related activities.
• Submission of Reports as per timeline of the project.
• Any other tasks assigned by Supervisor/PI.

Qualification:

Desirable:

• Bachelor’s degree in public health, social work, healthcare management or any social sciences
• Master’s degree in public health, social work, healthcare management or any social sciences
• Must have Fluency in Kannada, Hindi and English

Experience:

Desirable:

• Demonstrated experience of having worked in a research project involving human subjects.
• Demonstrated experience in field data collection from community samples (at least 2 years)
• Willingness to work and reside in the study location (Bengaluru, Karnataka) for the entire duration of the study
• Demonstrated experience of working with young children (2-10 years old) and their families
• Demonstrated experience of working with the Karnataka health system and with established relationships with health workers (ASHAs, ANMs, Anganwadi workers)
• Women are encouraged to apply.

Process to Apply:

Interested and eligible candidates may send their updated CV to iiphbengalurucareers@phfi.org and fill the application form– https://forms.office.com/r/kiEjanZ8zR Please mention the exact Position Code (IIPH-FLWR-102) in the email subject line. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for the interview.

Please note that Annual Salary (CTC) will commensurate with available skills and fitment of the incumbent as per the selection process.