The Influence of the BRIMHEALTH Programme to Public Health Development in Lithuania. : A Descriptive - Qualitative Study

Abstract: The Nordic countries have been assisting the Baltic countries in their public health (PH) development from early nineties. The study describes PH development in Lithuania alongside with the BRIMHEALTH PH training programme. The study aimed at a qualitative assessment of the programme’s implications in Lithuanian partner institutions. The grounded theory method was used in the analysis of the focus group interview and nine in-depth interviews. The subjective meaning attributed to the programme by its participants was summarized in the following five descriptive categories: international postgraduate students feel welcome in BRIMHEALTH (as the core category); providing assistance; building partnerships; being an experimental programme; BRIMHEALTH as a model. The core category focussed on the student, as the main actor. Each category is related to several subcategories. A constant comparative approach was applied to describe the thoughts and values of the participants. The concepts and categories were validated in the data. It was concluded that the study evaluates the impact of the BRIMHEALTH training programme, proving that PH training was connected to training abroad and international collaboration; the importance of the programme is assessed from a number of perspectives and can be helpful for further research.