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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Marie Stopes International's Sifpo Project—Strengthening International Family Planning Organizations, October 2010–September 2015, Population Council
Marie Stopes International's Sifpo Project—Strengthening International Family Planning Organizations, October 2010–September 2015, Population Council
Reproductive Health
The Population Council was a partner in the Strengthening International Family Planning Organizations (SIFPO) project implemented by Marie Stopes International. SIFPO’s mandate was to increase use of voluntary family planning (FP) services globally by strengthening selected international FP organizations with global reach and an extensive, multicountry network of FP clinics for achieving maximum program impact and synergies. This report outlines the Council’s role within the project: evaluate effectiveness of MSI’s FP programs to identify successful best practices and approaches; assist MSI to disseminate the findings of some or all evaluations; strengthen MSI’s internal research and metrics capacity with thematic workshops …
Cost Estimation For Scale-Up Of Voucher Services In Kenya, Shubhra Kumar, Smita Sanghrajka, Benjamin Bellows
Cost Estimation For Scale-Up Of Voucher Services In Kenya, Shubhra Kumar, Smita Sanghrajka, Benjamin Bellows
Reproductive Health
This document reports on the Government of Kenya’s Output-Based Aid (OBA) vouchers program—an affordable strategy to meet the international and national objectives for improved maternal and reproductive health. To help achieve the global Millennium Development Goals related to maternal and child health, the Kenyan government has launched several initiatives including this Vision 2030 flagship program which harmonizes global and national objectives by improving access and enhancing equity in health service delivery. The report finds that the three maternal health MDG indicators—maternal mortality rate, rate of institutional deliveries, and contraceptive prevalence—can all be improved substantially by scaling up the OBA program. …
From Problem-Solving To Research Utilization: How Operations Research And Program Evaluation Can Make Programs Better, Karen Foreit
From Problem-Solving To Research Utilization: How Operations Research And Program Evaluation Can Make Programs Better, Karen Foreit
HIV and AIDS
HIV treatment, care, and support, and PMTCT programs are most effective when based on the best available research evidence. This is the fundamental premise of evidence-based medicine. Equally well known is the dilemma of transforming evidence into practice, which is the subject of knowledge translation and implementation science. Even when the findings of clinical trials make their way into international and national program guidelines, they run up against competing priorities within public health and community programs, resource constraints, and institutional and human inertia. Understanding how to effectively change the approach used in program operations requires understanding how programs work in …
Conception, Mise En Oeuvre Et Évaluation D'Une Intervention Factuelle Ciblée Au Profit D'Un Sous-Groupe De Filles Vulnérables : Étude De Cas Du Programme Pilote Filles Éveillées Pour Adolescentes Migrantes Employées De Maison Au Burkina Faso Urbain, Sarah Engebretsen
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Il est crucial d’investir dans les adolescentes du monde en développement, où une proportion déjà importante et grandissante de la population tombe dans la catégorie des moins de 24 ans. La recherche a démontré que les défis posés aux filles sont particulièrement lourds aux alentours de la puberté, qu’il s’agisse de l’exclusion des espaces publics (et du manque de sécurité dans ceux accessibles), de la perte du réseau de pairs, de la déscolarisation, de la pression du mariage ou de liaisons comme stratégies de subsistance, ou encore de l’intériorisation de normes de genre préjudiciables. Les investissements consentis doivent l’être aux …
Designing, Implementing, And Evaluating A Targeted, Evidence-Based Intervention For A Vulnerable Subgroup Of Girls: A Case Study Of The Filles Éveillées ("Girls Awakened") Pilot Program For Migrant Adolescent Girls In Domestic Service In Urban Burkina Faso, Sarah Engebretsen
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Investing in adolescent girls is crucial in the developing world where a large and growing proportion of the population is under the age of 24. Research has demonstrated that adolescent girls face serious challenges around the time of puberty including withdrawal from (and lack of safety in) public spaces, loss of peers, leaving school, pressure for marriage or liaisons as livelihood strategies, and internalization of harmful gender norms. Investments need to be made at critical moments in early adolescence. While policymakers and development professionals have acknowledged the need to make investments in the poorest girls in the poorest communities early …
Fp2020: A Research Roadmap, Population Council
Fp2020: A Research Roadmap, Population Council
Reproductive Health
The global community came together in July 2012 in pursuit of an ambitious yet essential goal: ensuring that 120 million additional women and girls have access to effective family planning information and services by 2020. National governments, civil society, and the private sector resolved to tackle the numerous supply and demand barriers that prevent many women from using contraceptives. Donors committed $2.6 billion in new funding to support these efforts, matched by pledges from many developing-country governments. To reap the benefits of family planning, clients must have easy access to a wide range of affordable contraceptive methods through multiple service …
Hivcore Operations Research Workshop Summary Report, Nrupa Jani
Hivcore Operations Research Workshop Summary Report, Nrupa Jani
HIV and AIDS
Over the past decade, unprecedented progress has been made in the scale-up of HIV treatment, care, and support, yet substantial coverage gaps remain. Targeted operations research and program evaluation can play a significant role in ensuring efficient and effective service delivery, scaling up to reach more clients and on a broader geographical scope, enhancing quality of care, and improving the health status and health systems in developing country settings. With funding from USAID, the Population Council and partners are responding to these critical service delivery issues through HIVCore. HIVCore improves the efficiency, effectiveness, scale, and quality of HIV and AIDS …
Replication Of The Community Mobilization For Postabortion Care (Commpac) Model In Naivasha District, Rift Valley Province, Kenya: An Evaluation Report, Chi-Chi Undie, Francis Obare, Saumya Ramarao
Replication Of The Community Mobilization For Postabortion Care (Commpac) Model In Naivasha District, Rift Valley Province, Kenya: An Evaluation Report, Chi-Chi Undie, Francis Obare, Saumya Ramarao
Reproductive Health
The Population Council’s RESPOND project worked with districts and communities in Kenya to: strengthen service delivery points to provide postabortion care (PAC) services; conduct community mobilization to improve involvement in and knowledge of the prevention and treatment of postabortion complications; build community capacity to address needs related to PAC; and encourage involvement in community action of those most marginalized and most affected by postabortion complications. The program succeeded at increasing knowledge of critical danger signs; enabling providers to effectively offer PAC services; and raising awareness of PAC, among other goals. The intervention was less successful in increasing FP knowledge, current …
Defining Effective Voucher Management Information Systems: A Blueprint For Information Systems To Support Scalable Reproductive Health Voucher Programs, Based On System Evaluations With Programs In Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kenya, Uganda, And Tanzania, Mahad Ibrahim, Benjamin Bellows, Jaspal S. Sandhu
Defining Effective Voucher Management Information Systems: A Blueprint For Information Systems To Support Scalable Reproductive Health Voucher Programs, Based On System Evaluations With Programs In Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kenya, Uganda, And Tanzania, Mahad Ibrahim, Benjamin Bellows, Jaspal S. Sandhu
Reproductive Health
This document defines the key elements of information systems to support the development of effective, scalable voucher information systems. It is based on an engagement between the Gobee Group and the Population Council to strengthen information systems of reproductive health voucher programs in five countries in 2011–12. At the time of publication of this document, the Population Council was in the midst of a multiyear evaluation of five of the biggest reproductive health programs worldwide, an effort supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. While the work supporting this report has been focused on reproductive health voucher programs—which provide …
Population Level Impact Of Vouchers On Access In Uganda, Benjamin Bellows, Francis Obare, Reproductive Health Vouchers Evaluation Team
Population Level Impact Of Vouchers On Access In Uganda, Benjamin Bellows, Francis Obare, Reproductive Health Vouchers Evaluation Team
Reproductive Health
No abstract provided.
Berhane Hewan ('Light For Eve'): Increasing Opportunities To Delay Marriage And Promote Schooling, Annabel Erulkar, Eunice N. Muthengi
Berhane Hewan ('Light For Eve'): Increasing Opportunities To Delay Marriage And Promote Schooling, Annabel Erulkar, Eunice N. Muthengi
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This policy brief describes the findings of a pilot study on girls’ experience of early marriage, education, and sexual behavior in rural Amhara Region, Ethiopia. The brief also discusses efforts in the region to delay marriage and promote girls’ schooling. The Amhara Bureau of Women, Children and Youth Affairs and the Population Council pilot-tested a program to delay marriage and support schooling in rural Amhara Region. The program, entitled Berhane Hewan (Amharic for “Light for Eve”), included community conversations, support for remaining in school, and conditional cash transfers if girls remained unmarried and in school for the duration of the …
Report Of The Voucher And Accreditation Evaluation Project Meeting, Reproductive Health Vouchers Evaluation Team, Population Council
Report Of The Voucher And Accreditation Evaluation Project Meeting, Reproductive Health Vouchers Evaluation Team, Population Council
Reproductive Health
This is a report on a technical advisory meeting that brought together 45 participants from the five country programs being evaluated through the Reproductive Health Voucher and Accreditation (V&A) project, which is implemented by the Population Council with financial support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This group met for the first time as a newly emerging “voucher community” to learn from the successes and challenges faced in this early growth phase of emerging V&A programs that deliver maternal and reproductive health services. In addition to standardizing the collection of performance and financing metrics, who would use such data …
Evaluation Of The Population-Level Impact Of The Maternal Health Voucher Program In Uganda, Reproductive Health Vouchers Evaluation Team
Evaluation Of The Population-Level Impact Of The Maternal Health Voucher Program In Uganda, Reproductive Health Vouchers Evaluation Team
Reproductive Health
This report is based on an evaluation of the population-level impact of the maternal health voucher program in Uganda focusing on targeting of beneficiaries, health service utilization (four or more antenatal care visits, facility delivery, and postnatal care), out-of-pocket expenses, and equity. It further reviews the findings from an independent verification of the program that was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers Limited in 2010. The impact of the program on the outcomes considered is determined through a simple comparison of changes in proportions between intervention and comparison groups before and after the program started as well as estimation of multilevel random-intercept logit …
Taking Programs For Vulnerable Adolescents To Scale: Experiences, Insights, And Evidence, Martha Brady
Taking Programs For Vulnerable Adolescents To Scale: Experiences, Insights, And Evidence, Martha Brady
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The international development community’s desire to alleviate poverty and improve health outcomes presents an extraordinary opportunity to transform the lives of young people, particularly girls. Cycles of illiteracy, poor job prospects, and social isolation can be broken but will require concerted efforts to reach large numbers of vulnerable adolescent girls with robust asset-building programs. Scaling-up effective pilot programs will be critical to achieving these goals. While there is an expanding body of research around scaling up health interventions, less is known or documented about scaling up cross-sectoral programs for adolescent girls. Bringing to scale programs directed toward poor, often invisible …
Calling Attention To Young Adolescents: Building The Evidence Base To Inform Policies And Programs, Martha Brady
Calling Attention To Young Adolescents: Building The Evidence Base To Inform Policies And Programs, Martha Brady
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Young adolescence is a critical life-cycle stage marked by a dynamic combination of opportunity and risk. During this time, children undergo tremendous physical, emotional, social, and cognitive changes as well as socialization into prevailing sexual and gender norms. For the majority, young adolescence is characterized by relatively good health and stable family circumstances, but it can also be a period of vulnerability due to a number of rapid transitions that force some young people into adult roles. Most young adolescents experience the onset of puberty (girls earlier than boys), which typically marks an abrupt life change. Some young adolescents will …
First Generation Of Gender And Hiv Programs: Seeking Clarity And Synergy, Judith Bruce, Nicole Haberland, Amy Joyce, Eva Roca, Tobey Nelson Sapiano
First Generation Of Gender And Hiv Programs: Seeking Clarity And Synergy, Judith Bruce, Nicole Haberland, Amy Joyce, Eva Roca, Tobey Nelson Sapiano
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
In the past decade, there have been expanding resources to address the underlying gender dimensions of HIV. This has been particularly urgent in sub-Saharan Africa as the female-to-male infection ratios in young populations has reached 3 to 1 and sometimes above. The phrase “gender and HIV” has become commonplace yet does not provide any specific guidance as to target audiences, content, or measurable results. It can include everything from microcredit programs for HIV-positive women, to workplace programs seeking to change negative male norms, to efforts to increase respect for diverse sexual and gender identities. This review, conducted by the Population …
Ampliación De Programas Para Adolescentes Vulnerables: Experiencias, Entendimientos Y Evidencia, Martha Brady
Ampliación De Programas Para Adolescentes Vulnerables: Experiencias, Entendimientos Y Evidencia, Martha Brady
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
El deseo de la comunidad de desarrollo internacional por aliviar la pobreza y mejorar los resultados de la salud presenta una oportunidad extraordinaria para transformar la vida de la gente joven, particularmente de las niñas. Ciclos de analfabetismo, escasas posibilidades de trabajo y aislamiento social pueden frenarse, pero requerirán de esfuerzos coordinados para alcanzar a una gran cantidad de niñas adolescentes vulnerables con programas sólidos construídos en base a los valores. El hecho de ampliar los programas piloto efectivos será crítico para lograr estos objetivos. A pesar de que hay un cuerpo de búsqueda en expansión alrededor de intervenciones de …
Improving The Health Care Response To Gender-Based Violence: Project Evaluation Report, Meiwita P. Budiharsana, Mai Quoc Tung
Improving The Health Care Response To Gender-Based Violence: Project Evaluation Report, Meiwita P. Budiharsana, Mai Quoc Tung
Reproductive Health
Consistent with previous studies, this study provides evidence that gender-based violence (GBV) remains a problem in Viet Nam with indications that it may be on the increase. In 2009 the Population Council Viet Nam in collaboration with the Hanoi Health Department, carried out an evaluation among the staff of Duc Giang Hospital to assess the extent to which awareness and perceptions of GBV had changed since a pilot intervention project commenced in 2005. Overall the project has been very effective in raising awareness and willingness to integrate GBV screening in the health services. This report documents the results and lists …
Building Programs To Address Child Marriage: The Berhane Hewan Experience In Ethiopia, Eunice N. Muthengi, Annabel Erulkar
Building Programs To Address Child Marriage: The Berhane Hewan Experience In Ethiopia, Eunice N. Muthengi, Annabel Erulkar
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The development of a context-appropriate program to delay marriage in rural Ethiopia took place over many years and in stages. The program that ultimately became known as “Berhane Hewan” was developed by building an evidence base of understanding on the populations being served and developing partnerships between the Population Council and like-minded agencies with complementary expertise. The Berhane Hewan pilot demonstrated that significant impacts can be made on the social, educational, and health status of adolescent girls in a short period of time, through well designed and implemented support programs. However, high levels of exposure to all project components, make …
Mainstreaming And Scaling Up The Kenya Adolescent Reproductive Health Project, Ian Askew, Humphres Evelia
Mainstreaming And Scaling Up The Kenya Adolescent Reproductive Health Project, Ian Askew, Humphres Evelia
Reproductive Health
From 1999–2003, FRONTIERS implemented a Global Agenda program of operations research (OR) projects to address the reproductive health (RH) needs of adolescents in four countries—Bangladesh, Kenya, Mexico, and Senegal. The project was implemented in two districts of Western Province in Kenya and was known as the Kenya Adolescent Reproductive Health Project (KARHP). The project supported a public sector, multisectoral intervention to enhance young people’s knowledge and behavior regarding HIV prevention and RH. Implemented jointly with PATH, this OR project demonstrated that such an intervention could be implemented by the public sector, that it was acceptable to communities, that its influence …
Consolidating A Gender Perspective In The Procosi Network, Erica Palenque De La Quintana, Patricia Riveros Hamel, Ricardo Vernon
Consolidating A Gender Perspective In The Procosi Network, Erica Palenque De La Quintana, Patricia Riveros Hamel, Ricardo Vernon
Reproductive Health
The Integral Health Coordination Program (Programa de Coordinación en Salud Integral, or PROCOSI) in Bolivia developed a program to certify service delivery and management support NGOs as gender-sensitive. The certification system is based on an initial self-assessment by teams consisting of staff from service delivery (clinical) or management support (administrative) NGOs, followed by the development and implementation of activities to improve the gaps found until a minimum of 80 percent of the designated quality and gender standards are met. At the project’s end, 14 of the 15 participating NGOs had reached compliance with at least 80 percent of the proposed …
Bolivia: Marketing And Economic Analyses Help Ngos Develop Strategies For Sustainability, Frontiers In Reproductive Health
Bolivia: Marketing And Economic Analyses Help Ngos Develop Strategies For Sustainability, Frontiers In Reproductive Health
Reproductive Health
Many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) face reduced funding for reproductive health services and are seeking ways to assess and enhance their ability to generate income to cover their service costs. In 2004, following a workshop on financial sustainability presented by the Population Council’s FRONTIERS Program, three Bolivian NGOs—Prosalud; the Center for Research, Education, and Services (CIES); and the Association of Rural Health Programs (APSAR)—developed operations research studies to improve their financial sustainability. The Prosalud and CIES studies included a cost-recovery study, a study measuring clients’ willingness to pay for services, and a market segmentation study to compare the NGOs’ services with …
How Much Will It Cost To Scale Up A Reproductive Health Pilot Project?, Barbara Janowitz, John H. Bratt, Rick Homan, James R. Foreit
How Much Will It Cost To Scale Up A Reproductive Health Pilot Project?, Barbara Janowitz, John H. Bratt, Rick Homan, James R. Foreit
Reproductive Health
Most service-delivery interventions begin as pilot projects. When a pilot study of an intervention is successful, managers begin to think about scaling up the project to new areas. Cost is a critical factor influencing the extent and pace of scale-up. This brief explains how to adapt and modify cost information obtained from a pilot project to estimate scale-up costs. The brief shows why the costs of a pilot project alone are not sufficient to predict costs of scale-up and gives examples of how costs are influenced by factors like economies and diseconomies of scale, resource substitution, and intervention modification. The …
Mainstreaming Adolescent Reproductive Health In Senegal: Enhancing Utilization Of The Findings From The Youth Reproductive Health Project, Nafissatou J. Diop, Anta Fall Diagne
Mainstreaming Adolescent Reproductive Health In Senegal: Enhancing Utilization Of The Findings From The Youth Reproductive Health Project, Nafissatou J. Diop, Anta Fall Diagne
Reproductive Health
From 1999–2003, FRONTIERS implemented a Global Agenda program of operations research projects to address the reproductive health (RH) needs of adolescents in four countries—Bangladesh, Kenya, Mexico, and Senegal. The project was implemented in urban areas of Saint-Louis and Louga, in northwestern Senegal, and was known as Improving the Reproductive Health of Youth in Senegal. The project supported a public-sector, multisectoral intervention to enhance young people’s knowledge and behavior regarding HIV prevention and RH, and systematically tested its feasibility, acceptability, effectiveness, and cost. The intervention had a significant positive impact on young people’s awareness and understanding of RH issues. The pilot …
Technical Assistance To The Institute Of Reproductive Health, Georgetown University In Researching Introduction Strategies For The Standard Days Contraceptive Method (Sdm), Saumya Ramarao, James R. Foreit
Technical Assistance To The Institute Of Reproductive Health, Georgetown University In Researching Introduction Strategies For The Standard Days Contraceptive Method (Sdm), Saumya Ramarao, James R. Foreit
Reproductive Health
The Institute of Reproductive Health (IRH), Georgetown University tested the impact of introducing the standard days contraceptive method (SDM) with the technical assistance (TA) of Population Council staff. FRONTIERS technical assistance had the immediate effect of allowing IRH to carry out evaluations of the SDM in Asia and Latin America. The IRH studies also produced important lessons learned on strategies for the introduction of natural methods. IRH staff responsible for the India and Ecuador projects learned specific skills in cost-analysis and research instrument design.
Cómo Identificar Y Satisfacer La Necesidad De Servicios Adicionales: Manual Para Gerentes, Ricardo Vernon, James R. Foreit, Emma Ottolenghi
Cómo Identificar Y Satisfacer La Necesidad De Servicios Adicionales: Manual Para Gerentes, Ricardo Vernon, James R. Foreit, Emma Ottolenghi
Reproductive Health
Este manual está diseñado para ayudar a los encargados de tomar decisiones, los administradores, los supervisores y los proveedores de programas a introducir la detección sistemática en sus servicios de salud. La detección sistemática puede mejorar la salud de la mujer al abordar múltiples necesidades no satisfechas de servicios de salud reproductiva y otros. Este manual proporciona: actividades necesarias para implementar una detección sistemática; cómo seleccionar las instalaciones, los servicios que se examinarán y quién lo hará; desarrollo, adaptación y pruebas preliminares de listas de verificación de detección sistemática; asesoramiento para capacitar a los evaluadores/proveedores y supervisores; y un esquema …
Comment Mener Un Exercice De Couverture : Outil D'Évaluation Rapide De Programmes Et Services, Carey Meyers, Solene Lardoux
Comment Mener Un Exercice De Couverture : Outil D'Évaluation Rapide De Programmes Et Services, Carey Meyers, Solene Lardoux
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Un exercice de couverture (EC) est un instrument d’évaluation simple, économique et rapide pouvant servir à profiler les personnes touchées par un prestataire donné, un groupe de prestataires ou des organisations partageant une clientèle commune dans une zone géographique particulière. Cet instrument a été mis au point pour assister les programmes de jeunesse, mais il peut également être utilisé par d’autres bénéficiaires ayant des services offerts en établissement ou en antenne. L’EC collecte les données relatives à différentes caractéristiques, y compris le sexe, la scolarisation, l’habitat, l’activité rémunératrice et l’état matrimonial des personnes bénéficiant d’un programme ou d’un service. Il …
Developing Regional Capacity In Operations Research And Economic Evaluation In South Asia, M.E. Khan, Sohini Roychowdhury, James R. Foreit, Sharif M.I. Hossain, Geetha Vaithyanathan
Developing Regional Capacity In Operations Research And Economic Evaluation In South Asia, M.E. Khan, Sohini Roychowdhury, James R. Foreit, Sharif M.I. Hossain, Geetha Vaithyanathan
Reproductive Health
This project contributed significantly to the capacity-building of regional professionals in planning, implementing, and monitoring of reproductive health programs in South Asia. During 2001–05, professionals from 17 countries received training in various aspects of reproductive health in nine workshops, including operations research, economic evaluation, qualitative research methods, proposal writing, and process documentation and enhancing the utilization of research findings in reproductive health programs. Forty-three percent of workshop participants were program managers from government health programs and nongovernmental organizations. Success in leveraging resources from other collaborating agencies and other donors helped the project to organize more workshops than originally planned and …
How To Conduct A Coverage Exercise: A Rapid Assessment Tool For Programs And Services, Carey Meyers, Solene Lardoux
How To Conduct A Coverage Exercise: A Rapid Assessment Tool For Programs And Services, Carey Meyers, Solene Lardoux
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
A coverage exercise (CE) is a simple, low-cost, rapid assessment tool that can be used to profile who is reached by a given service or group of service providers or organizations with a common clientele operating within a particular geographic area. This tool was developed by the Population Council to assist programs servicing youth, but it can be used for other beneficiaries as well. A CE collects data on a variety of characteristics including gender, schooling status, living arrangements, work status, and marital status of those benefiting from a program or service. It also enables program staff and managers to …
Como Conduzir Um Exercício De Cobertura: Uma Ferramenta Para A Avaliação Rápida De Programas E Serviços, Carey Meyers, Solene Lardoux
Como Conduzir Um Exercício De Cobertura: Uma Ferramenta Para A Avaliação Rápida De Programas E Serviços, Carey Meyers, Solene Lardoux
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Um exercício de cobertura (EC) é uma ferramenta de avaliação rápida, simples e de baixo custo que pode ser utilizado para se obter o perfil das pessoas atingidas por um determinado serviço ou grupo de prestadores de serviços1ou organizações com uma clientela comum atuando numa área geográfica definida. Esta ferramenta foi desenvolvida com o intuito de auxiliar programas de atendimento à juventude, mas a mesma também pode ser utilizada com outros beneficiários. Pode ser empregada para um gama de serviços, tanto os realizados numa clínica ou ambulatório bem como na comunidade. Um EC coleta dados sobre uma variedade de características, …