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Quality Of Care And Utilisation Of Mch And Fp Services At Kenyan Health Facilities, Lewis Ndhlovu

Reproductive Health

Quality of services is playing an increasingly important role in many family planning (FP) programs. In 1995, a national Situation Analysis Study of 254 health facilities was conducted in Kenya to assess the status and quality of FP services in the country. An in-depth survey of a subsample of 28 health facilities was conducted the following year. From these facilities, 1,834 women were interviewed about their experiences with services at facilities when they sought antenatal, child health, and FP services. The goal of the survey was to examine the links between quality of care in FP services and contraceptive behavior. …

Strengthening Reproductive Health Services In Africa Through Operations Research, Population Council

Reproductive Health

The health status of women, men, and children in sub-Saharan Africa remains the poorest in the world. Moreover, virtually every country in the region is suffering mediocre economic growth or economic decline, thereby reducing the ability of their health care systems to respond adequately, and increasing dependence on external donor assistance. In terms of reproductive health (RH), the region is faced with high levels of unwanted fertility; high levels of maternal, child, and infant morbidity and mortality; and an almost exponential growth in HIV prevalence. Access to and quality of RH services remains poor in most countries, thereby maintaining unmet …

Reproductive Decisionmaking In The Context Of Hiv/Aids In Ndola, Zambia, Naomi Rutenberg, Ann E. Biddlecom, Frederick A.D. Kaona

Reproductive Health

Family planning (FP) programs are increasingly being considered as a logical focal point for STD and HIV/AIDS prevention services because they serve large numbers of women at risk, address the sensitive issue of sexual behavior and fertility control, and the methods for preventing unwanted pregnancy and disease can be the same. FP programs, by providing contraceptive methods, are currently one of the few sources of assistance in the sub-Saharan African region for preventing perinatal transmission of HIV, while the promotion of barrier methods contributes to the prevention of heterosexual transmission. Given this potential, research is needed to understand how the …

Strengthening The Evaluation And Research Unit Of The Zimbabwe Family Planning Council (1995–1998), Lewis Ndhlovu, Hazel M.B. Dube, Caroline S. Marangwanda

Reproductive Health

The Evaluation and Research Unit (ERU) plays a crucial role in supporting the research activities of the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC). Research activities are conducted in addition to analysis of service statistics and compilation of quarterly and annual reports. With a staff capacity of five and inadequate research skills existing in other units, the ERU finds it difficult to manage and monitor the diverse activities of the organization. To address these problems, a buy-in was signed between the Zimbabwe Government and USAID in May 1995. The objectives were to assist the ZNFPC in conducting operations research studies and …

Demand For And Cost-Effectiveness Of Integrating Rti/Hiv Services With Clinic-Based Family Planning Services In Zimbabwe, Baker Ndugga Maggwa, Ian Askew, Caroline S. Marangwanda, Sithokozille Simba, Hazel M.B. Dube, Rick Homan, Barbara Janowitz, Ahmed Latif, Peter R. Mason

Reproductive Health

The current spread of HIV/AIDS poses a major threat to individual lives and national economies in many sub-Saharan African countries. The region also has some of the highest levels of other reproductive tract infections (RTIs) in the world. Some of these RTIs increase the risk of sexual transmission of HIV infection. Thus, the control of RTIs is seen not only as an important reproductive health care strategy to alleviate symptoms of infection and long-term gynecological, obstetric, and neonatal complications, but also as a key strategy in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS. As a result, all national health care programs in …

The Tostan Story: Breakthrough In Senegal Ending Female Genital Cutting, Population Council

Reproductive Health

In Senegal, elements of the Tostan education program were fundamental to the ending of the practice of female genital cutting (FGC) which has persisted for centuries, despite outside efforts to abolish such a dangerous and harmful operation. This paper is an attempt by those who lived through these events to share the experience with others. At a time when there has been little reduction in the numbers of women ending FGC in 28 African countries, when different programs and strategies have rarely succeeded in making an impact on the number of women still practicing FGC despite laws abolishing the tradition, …

Mexico: Training Health Providers On Domestic Violence, Susan Pick, Lydia Miranda

Reproductive Health

This project was designed to disseminate, expand use, and promote institutionalization of a program to train healthcare professionals to address domestic violence. The program was developed and implemented by the Instituto Mexicano de Investigación de Familia y Población (IMIFAP), a nongovernmental organization that promotes reproductive health. IMIFAP designed an 18-hour workshop, entitled “Health Services Respond to Domestic Violence,” to sensitize health professionals to domestic violence issues and develop strategies for recognizing and managing cases of domestic violence. Following the workshop, strong and significant increases in knowledge about domestic violence and its management in primary healthcare services were found. Workshop participants …

Mexico: Informing Service Providers And Factory Workers About Emergency Contraception, Ricardo Vernon

Reproductive Health

The goal of this project was to inform physicians, pharmacists, and female factory workers about emergency contraception (EC) through mailings of booklets and posters. These materials were developed in a previous operations research project conducted by the Instituto Mexicano de Investigación de Familia y Población and supported by the Population Council INOPAL III project with funding from USAID. The study found that recipients generally liked the print materials and welcomed information about EC. Within three weeks of receiving the materials, many reported that they had taken immediate action to make EC available and/or to educate others about EC. This project …

Mexico: Protecting Informed Consent, Elsa Santos, Silvia Elena Llaguno, Ricardo Vernon

Reproductive Health

The objective of this three-month project in Mexico was to disseminate information among key audiences about: 1) the right of women to choose contraceptive methods in a free and informed manner; and 2) the laws and institutions available to help redress any violations of this right. Four publications on these topics, developed by a previous project funded by Population Council/INOPAL III, were reproduced and distributed to 2,750 people in the following target audiences: women of reproductive age; reproductive health service providers; national and state commissions of human rights, complaints offices in public hospitals, feminist and human rights organizations; and legal …

Peru: Providers' Compliance With Quality Of Care Norms, Federico R. Leon

Reproductive Health

Peru's Ministry of Health (MOH) introduced changes in its family planning service delivery strategy and set quality-of-care goals purported to ensure informed choice of methods and respect for the users’ reproductive intentions and rights. This study was designed to assess the extent to which providers comply with the guidelines in their daily routine. The study found that among the strongest elements of care are interpersonal relationships and free choice of methods. However, shortcomings were observed in screening for contraindications and information given to the client. The report includes a number of recommendations, including offering providers IEC materials, training, and supervision …

Recherche Par Traçage Sur La Réintroduction Des Émissions D'Immeubles En Milieu Urbain, Ted Stathopoulos, Louis Lazure, Patrick Saathoff

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Click here for the English version of this report

Tracer Gas Investigation Of Reingestion Of Building Exhaust In An Urban Environment, Ted Stathopoulos, Louis Lazure, Patrick Saathoff

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Cliquez ici pour la version française de ce rapport

Mesure Du Monoxyde De Carbone Dans L'Échappement Des Moteurs Diesels, Michel Grenier

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Click here for the English version of this report

Évaluation Des Risques À La Santé Et À La Sécurité Du Travail Dans Les Centres De Tri Des Matières Recyclables, Jacques Lavoie, Serge Guertin

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Les objectifs de ce projet étaient de documenter les nuisances (biologiques, chimiques, physiques et ergonomiques) dans trois (3) centres de tri de matières recyclables, d'interpréter ces données par référence aux normes d'exposition existantes ou aux niveaux recommandés rapportés dans la littérature scientifique et technique et d'identifier les caractéristiques ou variables à considérer lors de l'implantation de nouveaux centres et de faire des propositions sur les améliorations à apporter aux installations existantes.

Les microorganismes retrouvés dans l'air ont été mesurés en utilisant la méthodologie recommandée par l'ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) dans leur protocole E884-82 (1993). Les agents chimiques …

Processus Organisationnels Et Psycho-Sociaux Favorisant La Participation Des Travailleurs En Santé Et En Sécurité Du Travail, Marcel Simard, Marie-Claire Carpentier-Roy, Alain Marchand, François Ouellet

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Cette étude approfondit le phénomène de la participation directe des travailleurs à la prévention des lésions professionnelles, phénomène qui avait commencé à être exploré dans une recherche antérieure dont le rapport synthèse, intitulé La participation des travailleurs à la prévention des accidents du travail: formes, efficacité et déterminants a été publié par l'IRSST en 1997. Rappelons que ce phénomène réfère aux comportements préventifs que les travailleurs adoptent dans leur vie courante de travail, et à ce titre doit être distingué de la participation indirecte des travailleurs à la prévention qui s'exerce par l'intermédiaire de représentants sur le comité de …

Comparing Alternative Products In The Provision Of Emergency Contraception, John P. Skibiak, Yusuf Ahmed, M. Ketata

Reproductive Health

This report is the third in a series of summaries produced in connection with the operations research project “Enhancing Access to Family Planning Services through the Introduction of Emergency Contraception.” Launched in September 1997, the project explores the many issues surrounding the introduction and delivery of emergency contraception services in a developing country context. The study compares the introduction of two different emergency contraception pills—the combined oral contraceptive PC-4, introduced in Zambia in 1997, and the progestin-only contraceptive Postinor-2, introduced by this study in the following year. Client histories showed only minor differences in the attitudes of emergency contraception users …

Postabortion Care: Lessons From Operations Research, Dale Huntington, Nancy J. Piet-Pelon

Reproductive Health

This book focuses on one central but until now intransigent aspect of women’s health: How to reduce the toll of death and morbidity associated with unsafe abortion. For the first time in the history of international decision-making, Cairo established a consensus on abortion. This was reaffirmed in the 1999 United Nations General Assembly statement. Where abortion is illegal, many women use herbal remedies, take modern drugs in unsupervised ways, attempt to physically self-induce, or seek help from abortion providers working outside the law. Where abortion is illegal, women are exposed to painful, dangerous procedures and many fall so sick that …

Designing An Analytic Deliberative Process For Environmental Health Policy Making In The U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex, Seth Tuler, Thomas Webler

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Using a National Research Council Report as a centerpiece, Drs. Tuler and Webler evaluate the effectiveness of a conceptual approach to risk policy-making.

Benchmarking Financial Operations Using The Premier Operations Outlook Database, Margaret M. Thompson

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

Acute-care hospitals have come under increased pressure to reduce costs while increasing the quality of providing care. Historically, increasing costs of providing care has had the greatest impact on the reduction of operating margins necessary to expand capital and for repayment of debt. Facilities can benchmark internal historical data to identify areas where costs have increased and are able to explain the factors that contribute to the increases. One of the challenges facing hospitals in their efforts to reduce operating costs is how, what, and where, do they obtain comparative data to benchmark the cost of operating medical facility to …

Prise En Charge De La Sécurité Dans Les Petites Entreprises Des Secteurs De L'Habillement Et De La Fabrication De Produits En Métal, Danièle Champoux, Jean-Pierre Brun

Rapports de recherche scientifique

No abstract provided.

Native Outreach: A Report To American Indian, Alaska Native And Native Hawaiian Communities, C.S. Glover, F.S. Hodge

Native Health Database Full Text

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is presenting a monograph written specifically for community leaders, health professionals and lay health workers serving Native American communities. Native Americans have higher mortality rates than the general U.S. population for several major cancer sites. This publication focuses on the need to reduce those rates through effective interventions at the grassroots level.

Centred Voices : A Study Of The Lived Experience Of Women's Health Centre Coordinators, Jodie L. Moyle

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore and describe the lived experience of women's health centre coordinators. In addition to the intrinsic value of telling these women's stories, this research provides data which can he used to strengthen the economic, political, organisational and social position of women’s health centres and the women who work in them. Four women managers from regional urban women's health centres in Australia were interviewed about their subjective experiences with respect to their current working roles. Interviews were audio taped, transcribed and coded to produce themes and to preserve anonymity. Data was analysed using …

Smoking : An Exploration Of Message Framing And Death Anxiety, Ian James Parker

Theses : Honours

The focus of this thesis is the replication and extension of research by Tversky and Kahneman (1981) who found that how a message is worded or framed can significantly affect decisional choice. Tversky and Kahneman (1981) demonstrated that a message framed in terms of "lives saved" was favoured over one which read "lives lost" notwithstanding that the net sum of survivors was equal in both instances. The authors referred to the effects of message framing on decision making as Prospect Theory. This thesis studied Tversky and Kahneman's (1981) research applied to the issue of smoking. The preference for a positive …

To Immunize Or Not To Immunize, That Is The Question! An Investigation Into The Reasons Behind Parents' Decisions In Immunizing Their Children Against Whooping Cough In Western Australia, Eliena Kirov

Theses : Honours

Demographic data on the immunization status of Australia indicates that Western Australia has relatively low immunization coverage for whooping cough. Australian quantitative studies have been carried out on parental attitudes in Australia towards immunization, but there has been no analysis of parents' reasons for their decisions. This study identified the key issues that influenced the decisions made by the target group of parents and explored their decision-making in more depth. The data from this study could also be used to supplement the information currently available to health workers. Eight participants with children between the ages of 2 months and 6 …

Classification Of Participants Into Two Health Resource Utilization Groups By The Health Enrollment Assessment Review (Hear) Survey, Jody W. Donehoo

Health Services Research Dissertations

The study examined the ability of the Health Enrollment Assessment Review (HEAR) survey instrument to classify participants into one of two groups according to utilization of health resources anticipated in the following year. Developed by the U.S. Air Force, the HEAR survey is used worldwide by the Department of Defense for enrollees in TRICARE Prime, the military's adaptation of the HMO model of managed care. Individual HEAR reports are prepared for survey participants and their primary care providers in TRICARE Prime. Although it is currently administered worldwide to a majority of the 8.4 million health care beneficiaries of the Department …

Participation And The Focus Of Nutrition Education In A Rural Child Growth Monitoring Program In Kenya, Elizabeth N. Kuria

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Nutrition education is one of the strategies that addresses high levels of malnutrition in the world. Since independence in 1963. Kenya has instituted socio-economic, food security, nutrition and health policies to improve the nutrition and quality of life of it's people. In spite of these policies, one third of the Kenyan population is undernourished. This study was planned to establish how nutrition education is conducted in the Ministry of Health Thika District through a rural child growth monitoring program and to generate and reflect on women's participation in decision making in the program. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 21 women …

Vol. 21 No. 4 (1998): Pacific Studies Full Issue, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US$40.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, and …

Books Received And Book Notices, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Book Listing for the Vol 21, No 4 Edition of the Pacific Studies Journal

Contributors: Vol 21 No. 4, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Contributors list of Vol. 21 (1998): Pacific Studies Full Issue 4

Impact Des Nouvelles Technologies Comme Moyen Stratégique De Prévention Des Accidents De Travail, Jean-Bernard Carrière, Yves Beauchamp, Jacqueline Dionne-Proulx

Rapports de recherche scientifique

No abstract provided.