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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

More Than A Backdrop: Understanding The Role Of Communities In Programming For Adolescent Girls—Action Guide, Sarah Blake, Miriam Temin Jan 2019

More Than A Backdrop: Understanding The Role Of Communities In Programming For Adolescent Girls—Action Guide, Sarah Blake, Miriam Temin

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The structural and social features of a girl’s community play a critical role in determining what effects programs for adolescent girls can achieve. Girls’ communities include both the physical spaces girls must navigate and adults and peers who shape their beliefs about marriage, work, and education. This action guide focuses on key questions to ask when designing programs: How many girls live in a given community? Is the community urban, peri-urban, or rural? Is it formal or informal? How stable or cohesive is a community? Who is considered a “community member”? What resources exist for girls in the community, and …


Charity: A Health Volunteer Success Story, Amy Dempsey Jan 2017

Charity: A Health Volunteer Success Story, Amy Dempsey

Reproductive Health

Results from Ending Eclampsia’s landscape analysis of seven states in Nigeria served as the catalyst for a training with Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) in Nigeria. Researchers conducted observations of client–provider interactions during antenatal care (ANC) visits and assessed healthcare providers’ knowledge of proven risk factors for pre-eclampsia, including chronic hypertension, previous history of PE/E, obesity, pre-existing diabetes or diabetes in pregnancy, advanced maternal age, sickle cell diseases, and connective tissue diseases. The training’s objective was to teach CHEWs how ANC providers can prevent pregnancy-related complications like pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E). Following the training the CHEWs felt that they can …


Training Locally Elected Representatives To Act As Change Agents To Promote Egalitarian Gender Norms: Lessons Learned From The Do Kadam Barabari Ki Ore Programme—Policy Brief, K.G. Santhya, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy Jan 2017

Training Locally Elected Representatives To Act As Change Agents To Promote Egalitarian Gender Norms: Lessons Learned From The Do Kadam Barabari Ki Ore Programme—Policy Brief, K.G. Santhya, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This policy brief describes an intervention, the Do Kadam Barabari Ki Ore (Two Steps Towards Equality) project in Patna district, India that sought to train locally elected representatives to act as change agents to promote egalitarian gender norms among men and women in their communities, and the effects of exposure to the project among members of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs, local self-governance bodies) and men and women from the community. The project was undertaken by the Population Council, together with partners, the Centre for Catalysing Change and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and with support from …


Community Engagement In Sgbv Prevention And Response: A Compendium Of Interventions In The East And Horn Of Africa And The Great Lakes Region, Zahra Mirghani, Joanina Karugaba, Nicholas Martin-Achard, Chi-Chi Undie, Harriet Birungi Jan 2017

Community Engagement In Sgbv Prevention And Response: A Compendium Of Interventions In The East And Horn Of Africa And The Great Lakes Region, Zahra Mirghani, Joanina Karugaba, Nicholas Martin-Achard, Chi-Chi Undie, Harriet Birungi

Reproductive Health

This document captures efforts by UNHCR and its partners in promoting community engagement to combat sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the East & Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes Region. The compendium of tools reflected here is drawn from the responses of several actors to various forms of SGBV. The diversity of these efforts involves a range of demographic groups (in terms of gender and age), geographic contexts (rural, urban), and intended outcomes (SGBV prevention, response, or both). The interventions described are also at various stages of development or maturity, and varied in scope, with a few having …


Does Shifting Gender Norms On The Community Level Lead To Increased Hiv Services Uptake?, Project Soar Jan 2016

Does Shifting Gender Norms On The Community Level Lead To Increased Hiv Services Uptake?, Project Soar

HIV and AIDS

Project SOAR and partners are building on an ongoing National Institute of Mental Health–funded randomized controlled trial being conducted in South Africa—Community Mobilization for Treatment as Prevention. Specifically, the study aims to strengthen and expand the gender content of the intervention to engage both women and men in critically examining gender norms and power inequalities. This brief presents the particularly timely study that will address a key question in the field as to how gender norms may operate to affect HIV service utilization. Building the evidence base in this area is vital for improving care outcomes as well as creating …


Participatory Research Results From Training With The Mabinti Tushike Hatamu Out-Of-School Girls Program: Tanzania 2015, Kelly Hallman, Ilan Cerna-Turoff, Neema Matee Jan 2015

Participatory Research Results From Training With The Mabinti Tushike Hatamu Out-Of-School Girls Program: Tanzania 2015, Kelly Hallman, Ilan Cerna-Turoff, Neema Matee

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Mabinti Tushike Hatamu (Girls let’s be leaders!) program is designed to test and evaluate strategies for reducing the vulnerability of out-of-school adolescent girls in Tanzania aged 10–19 years to HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, and unfavorable life outcomes. MTH is led by the Tanzania AIDS Commission, implemented by Restless Development, and supported by UNICEF. The Population Council developed a strategy for Restless Development to capture the richness of its activities. The Council designed a training session and a companion toolkit in participatory action research for community volunteers, aged 19–23 years, to use within their girl groups. This report describes the findings from …


Reaching The Unreached Through Community Mobilization In An Innovative And Sustainable Way, Arupendra Mozumdar, M.E. Khan, Subrato Mondal Jan 2014

Reaching The Unreached Through Community Mobilization In An Innovative And Sustainable Way, Arupendra Mozumdar, M.E. Khan, Subrato Mondal

Reproductive Health

This study shows the potential of Self Help Groups (SHGs) to deliver health messages that increase women’s knowledge. The intervention for this operations research (OR) study included a day-long training for Swasth Sakhis in the experimental area. A total of 11 trainings were organized, all conducted by Population Council staff. Before the intervention, at baseline, 803 women from eligible households were interviewed for the quantitative assessment. At endline, 470 women were followed up. Additionally, 16 in-depth interviews with women, Swasth Sakhis, and Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana staff were conducted in the experimental area to understand how the intervention was …


Informe Años Dos Movil.Com: Evaluación De La Línea Final Resumen De Hallazgos Principales, Annik Sorhaindo, Xipatl Contreras, Kate S. Wilson, Sandra G. Garcia Jan 2011

Informe Años Dos Movil.Com: Evaluación De La Línea Final Resumen De Hallazgos Principales, Annik Sorhaindo, Xipatl Contreras, Kate S. Wilson, Sandra G. Garcia

Reproductive Health

This report highlights the findings of the endline evaluation of a two-year leadership project aimed at indigenous youth in Oaxaca, Mexico: Movil.com. Movil.com is a community project headed by peers and built on elements of other models. It is similar to a cascaded peer education and training model, in which nuclear leaders are trained who, in turn, train facilitators of larger groups. The Population Council office in Mexico evaluated the project at the request of the social organization that implements it, the Rosales Castellanos Women's Study Group, an NGO that has worked for more than 30 years with indigenous communities …


Manual For Designing Community Based Interventions For Preventing Postpartum Hemorrhage (Pph) Using Misoprostol: Standardized Pilot-Test Training Manual, Saumya Ramarao, Tekle-Ab Mekbib, Sarah Raifman Jan 2009

Manual For Designing Community Based Interventions For Preventing Postpartum Hemorrhage (Pph) Using Misoprostol: Standardized Pilot-Test Training Manual, Saumya Ramarao, Tekle-Ab Mekbib, Sarah Raifman

Reproductive Health

This manual is a comprehensive, standardized, step-by-step guide for Population Council staff to use when designing and implementing community-based pilot interventions for the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage using misoprostol. The introduction and background section provide basic information about maternal mortality, normal and abnormal pregnancy, and postpartum hemorrhage. This section also describes prevailing methods of prevention and treatment for postpartum hemorrhage, active management of the third stage of labor, and use of misoprostol for the prevention and control of postpartum hemorrhage. The second half of the manual focuses on how to develop a protocol for an intervention study on misoprostol. It …


Youth Participation In Civil Society And Political Life In Jharkhand, International Institute For Population Sciences (Iips), Population Council Jan 2009

Youth Participation In Civil Society And Political Life In Jharkhand, International Institute For Population Sciences (Iips), Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Youth participation in civil society and political life is increasingly recognized as an important development objective. The opportunities for participation that young people experience in their communities may influence their development and the kind of transitions they make to adulthood. Behaviors and attitudes relating to community participation that individuals adopt as young people predict their lifelong civic affiliations and perspectives. In India, the National Youth Policy 2003 has underscored the role of India’s youth in political decision-making, and has argued for greater representation of youth in appropriate bodies as well as more extensive youth participation in the design and implementation …


Youth Participation In Civil Society And Political Life In Bihar, International Institute For Population Sciences (Iips), Population Council Jan 2009

Youth Participation In Civil Society And Political Life In Bihar, International Institute For Population Sciences (Iips), Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Youth participation in civil society and political life is increasingly recognized as an important development objective. The opportunities for participation that young people experience in their communities may influence their development and the kind of transitions they make to adulthood. Moreover, behaviors and attitudes relating to community participation that individuals adopt as young people predict their lifelong civic affiliations and perspectives. In India, the National Youth Policy 2003 underscored the role of India’s youth in political decision-making and argued for greater representation of youth in appropriate bodies as well as more extensive youth participation in the design and implementation of …


Youth Participation In Civil Society And Political Life In Tamil Nadu, International Institute For Population Sciences (Iips), Population Council Jan 2009

Youth Participation In Civil Society And Political Life In Tamil Nadu, International Institute For Population Sciences (Iips), Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Youth participation in civil society and political life is increasingly recognized as an important development objective. The opportunities for participation that young people experience in their communities may influence their development and the types of transitions they make to adulthood. Behaviors and attitudes relating to community participation that individuals adopt as young people predict lifelong civic affiliations and perspectives. In India, the National Youth Policy 2003 has underscored the role of India’s youth in political decision-making, and has argued for greater representation of youth in appropriate bodies as well as for more extensive youth participation in the design and implementation …


Youth Participation In Civil Society And Political Life In Rajasthan, International Institute For Population Sciences (Iips), Population Council Jan 2009

Youth Participation In Civil Society And Political Life In Rajasthan, International Institute For Population Sciences (Iips), Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Youth participation in civil society and political life is increasingly recognized as an important development objective. The opportunities for participation that young people experience in their communities may influence their development and the kind of transitions they make to adulthood. Behaviors and attitudes relating to community participation that individuals adopt as young people predict their lifelong civic affiliations and perspectives. In India, the National Youth Policy 2003 has underscored the role of India’s youth in political decision-making, and has argued for greater representation of youth in appropriate bodies as well as more extensive youth participation in the design and implementation …


Evaluation Of The Long-Term Impact Of The Tostan Programme On The Abandonment Of Fgm/C And Early Marriage: Results From A Qualitative Study In Senegal, Nafissatou J. Diop, Amadou Moreau, Helene Benga Jan 2008

Evaluation Of The Long-Term Impact Of The Tostan Programme On The Abandonment Of Fgm/C And Early Marriage: Results From A Qualitative Study In Senegal, Nafissatou J. Diop, Amadou Moreau, Helene Benga

Reproductive Health

In 1998–99, a village empowerment program was implemented in the Thiès/Fatick and Kolda regions of Senegal by the nongovernmental organization Tostan, to mobilize communities to hold public declarations in support of abandoning harmful traditional practices, including female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and child marriage. The information presented in this report indicates that many did end the practices following a public declaration, however, the lack of follow-up in the field and the absence of support mechanisms pose a large obstacle. Nevertheless, the program achieved significant results: knowledge of life skills resulting in positive changes and a shift in the perception of FGM/C …


Improving Communication Between Parents And Adolescents On Reproductive Health And Hiv/Aids, Nafissatou J. Diop, Alioune Diagne Jan 2008

Improving Communication Between Parents And Adolescents On Reproductive Health And Hiv/Aids, Nafissatou J. Diop, Alioune Diagne

Reproductive Health

Cette recherche opérationnelle avait pour but d’évaluer la fonctionnalité et l’efficacité d’un modèle d’intervention destiné à prendre en charge les besoins d’informations des adolescent(e)s en matière de santé de la reproduction et cela à travers le renforcement et l’amélioration de la communication entre les parents et les enfants/adolescent(e)s. Les résultats ont montré la faisabilité de mettre en place un programme qui est spécifiquement destiné à améliorer le niveau et la qualité de la communication entre les parents/tuteurs et les adolescent(e)s sur les questions de SR/VIH/SIDA et cela malgré le caractère encore sensible de cette question dans le contexte socioculturel sénégalais. …


Acceptability And Sustainability Of The Who Focused Antenatal Care Package In Kenya, Harriet Birungi, Washington Onyango-Ouma Jan 2006

Acceptability And Sustainability Of The Who Focused Antenatal Care Package In Kenya, Harriet Birungi, Washington Onyango-Ouma

Reproductive Health

The objectives of this study were to assess the Kenyan Ministry of Health’s capacity to adapt focused antenatal care (ANC) at the service delivery level so that it can be sustained, and to examine the extent to which adaptation of the package has increased coverage and quality of key ANC services and the overall quality of care received by pregnant women. The study showed that focused ANC is acceptable to both clients and providers and the approach has also received tremendous support from both the government and health development partners. However, the sustainability of the focused ANC package is contingent …


Transferring Ghana's System Of Evidence-Based Health Program Development: Program For An Initial Exchange With Sierra Leone And Burkina Faso, Frontiers In Reproductive Health Jan 2005

Transferring Ghana's System Of Evidence-Based Health Program Development: Program For An Initial Exchange With Sierra Leone And Burkina Faso, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

Ghana’s Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) experiment demonstrated that mobilizing community volunteerism, in combination with retraining and redeploying nurses to village-based locations reduced childhood mortality rates in that country. Thus, CHPS has become the government’s primary strategy for realizing universal access to health care. This report provides a description of an initial exchange organized by the Ghana Health Service, the Navrongo Health Research Centre, and the Population Council to explore ways of transferring and adapting these evidence-based strategies to other countries in the region. The exchange included representatives from the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation and the …


Evaluation Of Community Education Interventions In Sexual And Reproductive Health Services In Urban-Marginal Areas Of La Paz, Bolivia, Maria Dolores Castro Mantilla, Mariel Loayza Antezana Jan 2004

Evaluation Of Community Education Interventions In Sexual And Reproductive Health Services In Urban-Marginal Areas Of La Paz, Bolivia, Maria Dolores Castro Mantilla, Mariel Loayza Antezana

Reproductive Health

The purpose of this study was to strengthen community strategies to improve quality-of-care services first implemented as part of a Bolivian Ministry of Health and Prevention and World Health Organization (WHO) project in 1997–98. To reach groups that do not regularly attend health facilities and improve community demand for services, the Centro de Información y Desarrollo de la Mujer (Center for Information and Development of Women) implemented a community education intervention focusing on sexual and reproductive health and rights targeting adolescents, men, and women with older or no children. Results showed that the interventions improved access to and utilization of …


Improving The Reproductive Health Of Adolescents In Senegal, Nafissatou J. Diop, Heli Bathidja, Isseu Diop Toure, Thierno Dieng, Babacar Mane, Saumya Ramarao, Susan E. Adamchak, Emelita Wong, Adama Ndoye, Aboubacry Sy, Babacar Fall Jan 2004

Improving The Reproductive Health Of Adolescents In Senegal, Nafissatou J. Diop, Heli Bathidja, Isseu Diop Toure, Thierno Dieng, Babacar Mane, Saumya Ramarao, Susan E. Adamchak, Emelita Wong, Adama Ndoye, Aboubacry Sy, Babacar Fall

Reproductive Health

In October 1999, the Frontiers in Reproductive Health (FRONTIERS) program began a three-year collaboration with the World Health Organization, the Senegal Ministries of Health, Education, and Youth, the Center for Research and Training in Health and Population, and the Population Training Group to test interventions to improve the reproductive health of youth aged 10–19. The community-based intervention included sensitization on adolescent reproductive health for community and religious leaders, reaching parents through women’s groups, and education sessions led by peer educators using a life-skills curriculum. As part of the clinic-based intervention, providers and peer educators were trained to offer youth-friendly services. …


The Ghana Community-Based Health Planning And Services Initiative: Fostering Evidence-Based Organizational Change And Development In A Resource-Constrained Setting, Frank K. Nyonator, John Koku Awoonor-Williams, James F. Phillips, Tanya C. Jones, Robert A. Miller Jan 2003

The Ghana Community-Based Health Planning And Services Initiative: Fostering Evidence-Based Organizational Change And Development In A Resource-Constrained Setting, Frank K. Nyonator, John Koku Awoonor-Williams, James F. Phillips, Tanya C. Jones, Robert A. Miller

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Research projects demonstrating ways to improve health services often fail to have an impact on what national health programs actually do. An approach to evidence-based policy development has been launched in Ghana that bridges the gap between research and program implementation. The Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) initiative employs strategies tested in the successful Navrongo experiment to guide national health reforms that mobilize volunteers, resources, and cultural institutions to support community-based primary health care. Over the 1999 to 2002 period, 100 out of the 110 districts in Ghana adopted a CHPS initiative. This paper reviews features of the initiative …


Policy And Program Implications Of The Matching Grants Program In The Philippines, Marilou Palabrica-Costello, Nimfa Ogena, Alejandro N. Herrin Jan 2003

Policy And Program Implications Of The Matching Grants Program In The Philippines, Marilou Palabrica-Costello, Nimfa Ogena, Alejandro N. Herrin

Reproductive Health

In 1999, the Philippines Department of Health, with support from USAID and technical assistance from Management Sciences for Health (MSH), implemented the matching grants program (MGP) as a component of the local government performance program. The MGP aims to improve the capability of municipalities and component cities to expand service delivery, and to achieve significant increases in rates of fully immunized children, vitamin A supplementation, tetanus toxoid immunization for women, as well as in the use of family planning methods, especially modern methods. Upon the request of the USAID Mission, the Frontiers in Reproductive Health program worked closely with MSH …


Investing In Youth: Testing Community-Based Approaches For Improving Adolescent Sexual And Reproductive Health, Tamara Fetters, Fines Munkonze, Julie Solo Jan 1999

Investing In Youth: Testing Community-Based Approaches For Improving Adolescent Sexual And Reproductive Health, Tamara Fetters, Fines Munkonze, Julie Solo

Reproductive Health

The world is now sustaining the largest number of youth in human history; today there are nearly 900 million 10–19-year-olds and their health and livelihood issues are becoming increasingly important to policymakers worldwide. In Zambia, as in many other countries, young people face severe problems, including limited access to jobs, secondary education, and health care. The social, economic, and peer pressures that youth face often lead to high levels of sexual activity, often with subsequent negative impacts on their sexual and reproductive health. In spite of the magnitude of the reproductive health problems facing youth, they still have limited access …


Literature Review: Challenging Hiv-Related Stigma And Discrimination In Southeast Asia: Past Successes And Future Priorities, Joanna Busza Jan 1999

Literature Review: Challenging Hiv-Related Stigma And Discrimination In Southeast Asia: Past Successes And Future Priorities, Joanna Busza

HIV and AIDS

Pervasive stigma has surrounded HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the pandemic. In Southeast Asia, as elsewhere, it has been accompanied by discrimination, affecting transmission patterns and access to care and support. This paper describes the regional experience of stigma and discrimination and offers a review of community-based interventions that have attempted to reduce them. The evidence presented comes primarily from unpublished literature and anecdotal evidence gained through interviews with project staff throughout the region.


Community-Based Aids Prevention And Care In Africa—Dissemination Of Phase I Findings: Report Of Five National Workshops, Population Council Jan 1995

Community-Based Aids Prevention And Care In Africa—Dissemination Of Phase I Findings: Report Of Five National Workshops, Population Council

HIV and AIDS

Given the constraints faced by the health care infrastructure in responding to the AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Africa, and the limitations of traditional educational approaches in motivating people to modify their sexual behavior within the African context, community-based efforts at AIDS prevention, and care of those affected, are the first lines of defense against the disease. Thus, they deserve greater scrutiny, to learn from the experiences and to continue and expand their efforts. The “Community-Based AIDS Prevention and Care in Africa: Building on Local Initiatives” project is being carried out by the Population Council with support from Glaxo Wellcome. The …