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Scales To Measure Motivation Among Community Health Workers, And Trust And Empowerment Among Their Clients: A Guide, Frontline Health Project Nov 2020

Scales To Measure Motivation Among Community Health Workers, And Trust And Empowerment Among Their Clients: A Guide, Frontline Health Project

Reproductive Health

This How-To Guide presents five multi-item scales to measure motivation among community health workers (CHWs), as well as clients' trust in CHWs, and empowerment within community health systems. The scales presented are intended for use in community health programs and in combination with other indicators in the CHW Performance Measurement Framework (published by the Frontline Health project in 2019) for routine data monitoring to improve quality and accountability in community health.


Gender Integration In Social And Behavior Change, Debora B. Freitas Lopez, Sanyukta Mathur, Haley Brightman, Kathryn Berryman, Kamden Hoffmann Nov 2020

Gender Integration In Social And Behavior Change, Debora B. Freitas Lopez, Sanyukta Mathur, Haley Brightman, Kathryn Berryman, Kamden Hoffmann

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This document is a review of recent social and behavior change-focused program literature focusing on the integration of gender considerations into health and non-health social and behavior change interventions. The review revealed eight promising practices: employing a gender perspective throughout the program cycle to improve outcomes; synchronizing gender strategies to ensure inclusion of men and women, boys and girls; addressing gendered health disparities that affect service use; reducing harmful traditional practices; ensuring community involvement and accountability for promotion of gender equality; considering gender during emergency preparedness and response; accounting for intersecting gendered vulnerabilities that influence health and development outcomes; and …


Evaluating The Inclusion Of Family Planning Within The National Health Insurance Benefits Package In Ghana, Kamil Fuseini, Augustine Ankomah Nov 2020

Evaluating The Inclusion Of Family Planning Within The National Health Insurance Benefits Package In Ghana, Kamil Fuseini, Augustine Ankomah

Reproductive Health

Contraceptive use in Ghana has remained low despite annual increases since 2012. Having a high unmet need for family planning (FP) suggests that there may be barriers to access and uptake. Over time, several policies, including Ghana’s Costed Implementation Plan from 2015–20, have suggested FP initiatives to improve contraceptive use yet they have not been entirely implemented. Further, although FP was included in the health insurance act passed in 2003, amended in 2008, and revised in 2012, which indicated that health-care benefits include FP, people continue to pay out of pocket for services at National Health Insurance Authority facilities because …


Frontline Health: Harmonizing Metrics, Advancing Evidence, Accelerating Policy—Project Overview Brief, Frontline Health Project Oct 2020

Frontline Health: Harmonizing Metrics, Advancing Evidence, Accelerating Policy—Project Overview Brief, Frontline Health Project

Reproductive Health

Despite decades of technological and medical progress globally, half the world’s population still lacks access to essential health care due to insufficient numbers and types of health workers, especially in remote settings. There is growing recognition that well-supported community health workers (CHWs) are essential for effective delivery of primary health care (PHC). Despite broad consensus on the importance of CHWs, few countries have successfully integrated them as part of PHC at scale, and many lack official statistics on the performance of CHW programs. USAID, UNICEF, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation developed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on …


Best Bets: Vouchers For Rights-Based, Voluntary Family Planning—International Evidence On Financing Of Family Planning, Benjamin Bellows, Moazzam Ali, Ali M. Mir Oct 2020

Best Bets: Vouchers For Rights-Based, Voluntary Family Planning—International Evidence On Financing Of Family Planning, Benjamin Bellows, Moazzam Ali, Ali M. Mir

Reproductive Health

To meet the FP2020 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), significant investments are required by countries and donors in priority areas, including sustainable financing, reaching all adolescents, expanding availability of services to the poorest and hard-to-reach populations, and improving the quality and increasing the range of methods available. Studies show that vouchers can substantially contribute to SDG goals by expanding contraceptive access and choice among underserved populations. Vouchers can be an effective financing tool to enhance equity, increase access, and improve the quality of FP services available to underserved populations within Pakistan.


Project Soar Research Informs National Policy Change In Tanzania Expanding Access To Hiv Services For Marginalized Populations, Population Council Oct 2020

Project Soar Research Informs National Policy Change In Tanzania Expanding Access To Hiv Services For Marginalized Populations, Population Council

Research Utilization and Impact Briefs

A recent Project SOAR study evaluated community-based delivery of antiretroviral treatment to female sex workers (FSWs) in Tanzania, demonstrating the value of this approach to improve HIV care. Informed by these findings, the Government of Tanzania changed national guidance to allow for community-based HIV treatment to better meet the needs of marginalized populations, including FSWs.


Ica Foundation Supports Lng Ius Access In Low- And Middle-Income Countries, Population Council Oct 2020

Ica Foundation Supports Lng Ius Access In Low- And Middle-Income Countries, Population Council

Research Utilization and Impact Briefs

The Population Council has developed and introduced several of the world’s most effective and popular contraceptive methods, including the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG IUS). Through the International Contraceptive Access (ICA) Foundation, a public-private foundation based in Finland, the Council supports LNG IUS distribution to women in over 35 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in partnership with international and local organizations. Over 150,000 LNG IUS units have been delivered to date at no cost, laying the groundwork for method introduction in LMICs and further expanding access to safe, long-acting, reversible contraception.


Population Council-Led Partnership Influences National And Global Efforts To End Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, Population Council Oct 2020

Population Council-Led Partnership Influences National And Global Efforts To End Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, Population Council

Research Utilization and Impact Briefs

The Evidence to End FGM/C program has filled critical data gaps, bolstered local capacity, and strengthened stakeholder relationships over the past five years. Through a collaborative, African-led approach, the program informed high-level national policy dialogue in several countries, including Kenya and Nigeria, and contributed to UNFPA’s new global estimates of girls at risk for FGM/C.


Orientation Des Programmes Pour Le Changement Social Et De Comportement À Travers L'Écoute Sociale Et Le Suivi Social, Breakthrough Research Oct 2020

Orientation Des Programmes Pour Le Changement Social Et De Comportement À Travers L'Écoute Sociale Et Le Suivi Social, Breakthrough Research

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Cette note de recherche offre des conseils pratiques quant à la manière d'utiliser l'écoute sociale et le suivi social comme outils permettant d’orienter les programmes de changement social et de comportement (CSC). Elle est destinée aux agents de mise en œuvre des programmes CSC au niveau mondial et régional, aux évaluateurs et aux bailleurs de fonds dans les pays prioritaires soutenus par l'USAID. Cette note donne un aperçu de l'écoute sociale et du suivi social et explique comment ces méthodes peuvent constituer des outils importants dans la collecte de renseignements concernant les connaissances et les attitudes de publics cibles, ainsi …


High Impact Practices—Encouraging Empowerment And Self-Care Through Participatory Women’S Groups And Group Antenatal Care: Supporting Women To Be At The Center Of Their Own Care As Active Participants, Tracy Mcclair Sep 2020

High Impact Practices—Encouraging Empowerment And Self-Care Through Participatory Women’S Groups And Group Antenatal Care: Supporting Women To Be At The Center Of Their Own Care As Active Participants, Tracy Mcclair

Reproductive Health

The Population Council developed High Impact Practice (HIP) briefs for three strategies that show promise for improving prevention, detection, and management of Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy (HDPs). This brief focuses on one of those strategies: encouraging empowerment and self-care through participatory women’s groups and group antenatal care. Key points presented are: highly participatory, group-based interventions—such as community-based women’s groups and group antenatal and postnatal care (ANC/PNC)—provide opportunities for women to share their experiences and knowledge with others, discuss the local context for challenges and how to address them, and promote empowerment and agency; participation in these groups is associated with …


High Impact Practices—Detecting And Managing Hypertension In The Extended Postnatal Period: Preventing Postnatal Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia, Charlotte E. Warren Sep 2020

High Impact Practices—Detecting And Managing Hypertension In The Extended Postnatal Period: Preventing Postnatal Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia, Charlotte E. Warren

Reproductive Health

The Population Council developed High Impact Practice (HIP) briefs for three strategies that show promise for improving prevention, detection, and management of Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy (HDPs). This brief focuses on one of those strategies: detecting and managing hypertension in the extended postnatal period. Key points presented are: the extended postnatal period provides an opportunity to monitor a woman’s blood pressure (BP) and check for persistent hypertension; if BP is measured routinely at any contact with the health system during the extended postnatal period, hypertension is more likely to be detected and managed appropriately; women with pre-eclampsia have a 3.7-fold …


Informing Social And Behavior Change Programs: Using Social Listening And Social Monitoring, Breakthrough Research Sep 2020

Informing Social And Behavior Change Programs: Using Social Listening And Social Monitoring, Breakthrough Research

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This brief offers practical guidance on social listening and social (media) monitoring as tools to inform social and behavior change programs, intended for global and regional program implementers, evaluators, and donors in USAID priority countries. This brief explains how social listening and social monitoring can be important tools for collecting information about target audiences’ knowledge and attitudes, as well as their exposure and responses to particular interventions. Using applied examples in Francophone West Africa, it illustrates social and social monitoring steps, provides examples of lessons, and identifies how these methods can be applied to social and behavior change programming. People …


Improving Reproductive Health And Family Planning Outcomes Among Out-Of-School Adolescents And Youth In The Philippines, Breakthrough Research, De La Salle University Sep 2020

Improving Reproductive Health And Family Planning Outcomes Among Out-Of-School Adolescents And Youth In The Philippines, Breakthrough Research, De La Salle University

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Breakthrough RESEARCH, in collaboration with De La Salle University’s Social Development Research Center (DLSU-SDRC) in Manila, conducted a targeted qualitative research study to facilitate social and behavior change approaches for out-of-school ages 15 to 19 for positive reproductive health and family planning behavior change. Research in three regions of the Philippines generated evidence for the design of intervention approaches to be most effective for four priority behaviors: delay of sexual debut, use of modern contraceptive methods, care-seeking in the first trimester for pregnant youth, and birth spacing of three to five years to prevent short birth intervals.


Piloting And Evaluating Family-Centered Hiv Care In Eswatini, Caspian Chouraya, Nobuble Mthethwa, Lynne Mofenson, Philisiwe Khumalo, Lydia Mpango, Munamato Mirira, Rhoderick Machekano, Leila Katirayi, Kim Ashburn Sep 2020

Piloting And Evaluating Family-Centered Hiv Care In Eswatini, Caspian Chouraya, Nobuble Mthethwa, Lynne Mofenson, Philisiwe Khumalo, Lydia Mpango, Munamato Mirira, Rhoderick Machekano, Leila Katirayi, Kim Ashburn

HIV and AIDS

There are substantial gaps in essential services and numerous missed opportunities to engage children in care and provide effective HIV treatment. Although not new, family-centered care models that provide HIV services comprehensively to families as a unit, rather than providing separate services to children and adults, have the potential to address family needs and break down social, physical, and emotional barriers to accessing care. The family-centered care study (FAM-CARE) aims to contribute to our understanding of the role of family-centered care models (FCCM) in improving pediatric HIV outcomes in a sub-Saharan African setting.


Best Bets For Accelerating Family Planning In Pakistan: Invest In Community Health Workers, Ali M. Mir, Kiren Khan Aug 2020

Best Bets For Accelerating Family Planning In Pakistan: Invest In Community Health Workers, Ali M. Mir, Kiren Khan

Reproductive Health

Integration of trained, equipped, and supported community health workers (CHWs) within a health system is recognized as a proven high impact practice for family planning (FP) services, with evidence from around the world confirming the need to complement facility-based FP services with CHW programs, particularly in areas where people’s access to health care is limited. There is also substantial evidence that delivering essential health services through CHWs can be cost-effective in a diversity of contexts, with a review of FP programs in 10 developing countries revealing that the average cost per couple-year of protection (CYP) was considerably lower among programs …


Best Bets For Accelerating Family Planning In Pakistan: Inducting Men, Sharing Responsibility, Kiren Khan, Zeba Sathar Aug 2020

Best Bets For Accelerating Family Planning In Pakistan: Inducting Men, Sharing Responsibility, Kiren Khan, Zeba Sathar

Reproductive Health

Pakistan's family planning (FP) program remains more or less exclusively aimed at women, yet evidence from both international as well as programming from within Pakistan suggests that including men in FP could improve results. Given the large youth cohort entering reproductive life in Pakistan, there are compelling grounds for also including younger men and adolescent boys, especially those about to wed, within the country's reproductive health (RH) and FP strategies.


Barriers Inhibiting Detection And Management Of Postpartum Hemorrhage By Providers In Madagascar, Breakthrough Research, Usaid's Health Evaluation And Applied Research Development Aug 2020

Barriers Inhibiting Detection And Management Of Postpartum Hemorrhage By Providers In Madagascar, Breakthrough Research, Usaid's Health Evaluation And Applied Research Development

Reproductive Health

Breakthrough RESEARCH partner ideas42 conducted research in June 2019 in peri-urban and rural areas of Vohipeno and Manakara districts of Madagascar's Vatovavy-Fitovinany region to identify health care providers' challenges for detecting and managing complications during childbirth including postpartum hemorrhage and identify optimal solutions. This brief summarizes the results of a behavioral diagnosis that reveals “Facility-based providers do not consistently follow best practices for the detection and management of complications during childbirth.” Low perception of risk of postpartum hemorrhage, limited review of compliance with best practices, consequences of current practices, and resource scarcity can negatively affect provider decision-making and clinical practice.


Obstacles Limitant La Détection Et La Prise En Charge De L’Hpp Par Les Prestataires De Soins De Santé À Madagascar, Breakthrough Research Aug 2020

Obstacles Limitant La Détection Et La Prise En Charge De L’Hpp Par Les Prestataires De Soins De Santé À Madagascar, Breakthrough Research

Reproductive Health

Breakthrough RESEARCH partner ideas42 conducted research in June 2019 in peri-urban and rural areas of Vohipeno and Manakara districts of Madagascar's Vatovavy-Fitovinany region to identify health care providers' challenges for detecting and managing complications during childbirth including postpartum hemorrhage and identify optimal solutions. This brief summarizes the results of a behavioral diagnosis that reveals “Facility-based providers do not consistently follow best practices for the detection and management of complications during childbirth.” Low perception of risk of postpartum hemorrhage, limited review of compliance with best practices, consequences of current practices, and resource scarcity can negatively affect provider decision-making and clinical practice.


Breastfeeding: Insights For Improving Malaria, Family Planning, And Maternal And Child Health Outcomes In Northwestern Nigeria Through Social And Behavior Change Research, Breakthrough Research Jul 2020

Breastfeeding: Insights For Improving Malaria, Family Planning, And Maternal And Child Health Outcomes In Northwestern Nigeria Through Social And Behavior Change Research, Breakthrough Research

Reproductive Health

This brief provides evidence for implementers and researchers of social and behavior change programs designed to improve community knowledge, attitudes, norms and behaviors for pregnant and postpartum women's health. The brief focuses on key behaviors including early breastfeeding initiation within one hour of birth and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, while also discussing breastfeeding barriers and facilitators. This is one of a series of briefs that present findings from a Breakthrough RESEARCH study that captured data on a wide range of psychosocial factors of behavioral outcomes for family planning, malaria, and maternal, newborn and child health, …


Creative Assets And Program Content Guide: To Build Social And Emotional Learning And Promote Trauma Mitigation And Healing, Adolescent Girl And Creativity Network Jun 2020

Creative Assets And Program Content Guide: To Build Social And Emotional Learning And Promote Trauma Mitigation And Healing, Adolescent Girl And Creativity Network

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In 2016, the Adolescent Girl and Creativity Network was commissioned by the Population Council’s Community of Practice to utilize their wealth of knowledge and field experience to critically examine, adapt, and expand the Council’s Building Assets Toolkit© and complementary Asset Exercise. The question explored was: What are the essential assets pertinent to the most-at-risk girls and how can they be built through creative techniques/activities? This guide is the result of that activity—13 creative assets and 50 activities (program content) to build social and emotional learning, mitigate and manage trauma, and promote healing. The 50 creative program content activities to …


Reducing Hiv Risk Among Young Women And Their Partners: Highlights From The Dreams Implementation Science Research Portfolio, Population Council Jun 2020

Reducing Hiv Risk Among Young Women And Their Partners: Highlights From The Dreams Implementation Science Research Portfolio, Population Council

HIV and AIDS

The Population Council, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development through Project SOAR, led a set of implementation science studies to capture multiple perspectives that reflect the innovative aspects of DREAMS. These mixed-method studies conducted across seven countries (Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia) provide critical evidence that fill knowledge gaps on how to reduce HIV risk among AGYW and their male partners. This brief presents key findings grouped around four areas of inquiry: 1) HIV vulnerability and risk; 2) social drivers of HIV risk; 3) effects of …


Covid-19-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices Among Adolescents And Young People In Bihar And Uttar Pradesh, India: Study Description, Rajib Acharya, Mukta Gundi, Thoai Ngo, Neelanjana Pandey, Sangram Kishor Patel, Jessie Pinchoff, Shilpi Rampal, Niranjan Saggurti, K.G. Santhya, Corinne White, A.J. Francis Zavier Apr 2020

Covid-19-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices Among Adolescents And Young People In Bihar And Uttar Pradesh, India: Study Description, Rajib Acharya, Mukta Gundi, Thoai Ngo, Neelanjana Pandey, Sangram Kishor Patel, Jessie Pinchoff, Shilpi Rampal, Niranjan Saggurti, K.G. Santhya, Corinne White, A.J. Francis Zavier

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

To control the spread of COVID-19 in India and to aid the efforts of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), the Population Council and other non-governmental organizations are conducting research to assess residents’ ability to follow sanitation and social distancing precautions under a countrywide lockdown. The Population Council COVID-19 study team is implementing rapid phone-based surveys to collect information on knowledge, attitudes and practices, as well as needs, among 2,041 young people (ages 19-23 years) and/or an adult household member, sampled from an existing prospective cohort study with a total sample size of 20,574 in Bihar (n=10,433) and …


Evidence Around Engaging Men In Hiv Prevention And Treatment, Julie Pulerwitz, Ann Gottert, Jerry Okal, Sanyukta Mathur Apr 2020

Evidence Around Engaging Men In Hiv Prevention And Treatment, Julie Pulerwitz, Ann Gottert, Jerry Okal, Sanyukta Mathur

HIV and AIDS

No abstract provided.


Considerations For Collecting And Documenting Fgm/C Data By Health Care Providers, Dennis Matanda Feb 2020

Considerations For Collecting And Documenting Fgm/C Data By Health Care Providers, Dennis Matanda

Reproductive Health

Data on female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) are rarely collected in health facilities, yet routine collection of facility-based data through other health-seeking visits (e.g., during antenatal care) is considered good medical practice and can be an important source of data. Clinical exams provide an opportunity to identify women and girls who have undergone FGM/C, which is an important step in aiding the prevention of chronic complications that can be difficult to manage later in life. These exams also make it possible to refer those with FGM/C-related complications for specialized treatment. Clinical visits also present an opportunity to discuss prevention of the …


Strengthening Capacity For Assessment Of Hiv-Related Data Needs Among Key Populations To Inform Evidence-Based Responses, Amrita Rao, Nikita Viswasam, Stefan Baral Feb 2020

Strengthening Capacity For Assessment Of Hiv-Related Data Needs Among Key Populations To Inform Evidence-Based Responses, Amrita Rao, Nikita Viswasam, Stefan Baral

HIV and AIDS

Defining the HIV prevention and treatment needs of key populations who have disproportionate HIV acquisition and transmission risks has been particularly difficult in the context of generalized HIV epidemics where less attention has historically been placed on the HIV prevention and treatment needs of these groups. There is a gap in our understanding of the specific needs of—and ultimately the investment case for the added value of supporting—disproportionately burdened key populations in these settings. In response to this gap, Johns Hopkins University under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Project SOAR implemented a project in partnership with collaborators, …


No To Circumcision’: The Road To Effective Social Marketing Campaigns In Egypt [Arabic], Salma Abou Hussein, Sarah Ghattass Feb 2020

No To Circumcision’: The Road To Effective Social Marketing Campaigns In Egypt [Arabic], Salma Abou Hussein, Sarah Ghattass

Reproductive Health

This study sought to understand how, where, and why social marketing campaigns (SMCs) supporting abandonment of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) are working, and with what impact, to inform design and scale-up of campaigns that can foster new perspectives, expectations, and behaviors.


Reflections From Five Years Of Research On Fgm/C, Lori S. Ashford, Reshma Naik, Charlotte Greenbaum Feb 2020

Reflections From Five Years Of Research On Fgm/C, Lori S. Ashford, Reshma Naik, Charlotte Greenbaum

Reproductive Health

From 2015 to 2019, the Evidence to End FGM/C research consortium took a fresh approach to examining the longstanding practice of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). The African-led program developed innovative research methods and uncovered new evidence about the practice and how it is changing—focusing on families and communities, and health and legal systems. This report documents the consortium’s research methods, the key lessons learned, capacity strengthening efforts, enhanced advocacy for research uptake, and recommendations. The research sheds light on key areas for future investments that would ensure that FGM/C policies and programs are informed by rigorous evidence. The recommendations stem …


Understanding Local Variation In How Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Declines, Changes, Or Persists: Analysis Of Household Survey Data For Kenya, Nigeria, And Senegal, Population Reference Bureau Feb 2020

Understanding Local Variation In How Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Declines, Changes, Or Persists: Analysis Of Household Survey Data For Kenya, Nigeria, And Senegal, Population Reference Bureau

Reproductive Health

Efforts to eliminate female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) intensified in many parts of Africa following a 2012 United Nations General Assembly Resolution, but change has been uneven. Important evidence gaps remain in our understanding of why the practice declines, changes, or persists in specific locations. Policymakers and program planners need such information to better tailor interventions to address local patterns and focus resources on abandonment efforts in areas with the greatest needs. To fill these gaps, researchers with the Evidence to End FGM/C consortium analyzed nationally representative household survey data for Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal. The results of their research identify …


Evidence To Inform An Integrated Social And Behavior Change Strategy In The Sahel, Leanne Dougherty, Jessie Pinchoff Feb 2020

Evidence To Inform An Integrated Social And Behavior Change Strategy In The Sahel, Leanne Dougherty, Jessie Pinchoff

Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Choices

Breakthrough RESEARCH completed this literature review, which summarized the evidence, or lack thereof, in the Sahel, to establish a rationale for the planned RISE II SBC evaluation as described in the study protocol. The literature review provides an overview of the health and development challenges in the region, along with priority health behaviors and their determinants followed by a description of SBC programmatic approaches that have addressed behavioral determinants and health outcomes in the region.