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Safe Motherhood Applied Research And Training (Smart) Report 3: Changes In Knowledge And Behavior Of Women And Families, Muhammad Shafique Arif, Peter C. Miller, Nayyer Munir, Irfan Masood

Reproductive Health

The Safe Motherhood Applied Research and Training (SMART) project was conceived as an operations research project designed to test the effectiveness of two different strategies for improving maternal and neonatal health in Pakistan. To evaluate the results of this test, several types of evaluative research were conducted, including qualitative studies of various types, health systems assessments, evaluations of specific components, and household surveys. The household surveys are the subject of this report, which is Report 3 (Changes in knowledge and behavior of women and families) in a series of six. The surveys are two types: a large-scale, before-after household survey …

Safe Motherhood Applied Research And Training (Smart) Report 4: Knowledge And Behaviour Of Service Providers, Zakir Hussain Shah, Saima Pervaiz

Reproductive Health

The Safe Motherhood Applied Research and Training (SMART) project was an operations research project designed to develop and test interventions to reduce maternal, perinatal, and neonatal mortality and morbidity in predominantly rural districts of Pakistan. The study area was in the district of Dera Ghazi Khan; the control area was in the district of Layyah. The project focused on three areas: empowering women to seek appropriate and timely general, maternal, and newborn care; supporting methods that encourage men to play a positive and active role in decision-making and seeking care for their families in matters relating to maternal and newborn …

In His Steps: An Asian Christian View To Discerning God's Will, Philip J. J. Chen

Doctor of Ministry

Most Asian cultures are polytheistic, and the people of these cultures have evolved specific ways to discern the gods' wills for their lives. 1 When an individual from an Asian background converts to Christianity, he or she faces many challenges. For example, family members may pressure the believer to return to polytheism, and the believer must respond to their difficult challenge. Polytheism provides many ways to discern the will of the gods, but Christianity limits its methods to prayer, guidance from the Bible, and the direction of the Holy Spirit.2 This dissertation will describe methods of spiritual discernment for Christians …

Reproductive Health Update Trainings For Health Workers In North Eastern Province, Garissa, Kenya Ministry Of Health, Population Council

Reproductive Health

The Somali community living in Kenya has practiced the severest form of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), infibulation, for centuries. To understand the context within which the practice takes place, and how its complications are managed, FRONTIERS undertook a diagnostic study in North Eastern Province and in the Eastleigh area of Nairobi. The study found that the health system is ill equipped to serve women who have been cut, and particularly infibulated women who are pregnant and delivering, stemming from an overall weakness in the availability and quality of maternal and neonatal heath services. Specific recommendations could strengthen these services so …

Strategies For Encouraging The Abandonment Of Female Genital Cutting In West Africa: Experiences From Senegal, Burkina Faso, And Mali, Nafissatou J. Diop, Ian Askew

Reproductive Health

This article explores efforts to encourage abandonment of female genital cutting (FGC) in Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Mali. The strategy of encouraging traditional practitioners to stop performing FGC is not effective as community-level support for the practice remains high. Training health staff significantly improved healthcare providers' levels of knowledge about FGC and its complications. Consequently, it was recommended that such training be incorporated into preservice medical training. The use of community-based strategies like the Village Education Program (VEP) showed the most promise, as their multifaceted approach addresses knowledge, attitudes, actions, and communal support in an integrated manner. The way forward …

Technical Assistance To Organizations In Guinea Seeking To Reduce Female Genital Cutting, Nafissatou J. Diop

Reproductive Health

This reports details the technical assistance the Population Council’s FRONTIERS program provided to WHO’s Africa Bureau to implement a project addressing medicalization of female genital cutting (FGC), and to support Tostan in replicating its program in Guinea. Technical assistance had several aims: to improve the effectiveness of strategies to abandon FGC in Guinea, to assist WHO in developing and implementing a project to reduce FGC medicalization by health providers, to build the capacity of Guinean organizations to appropriately monitor and evaluate their FGC-related activities, and to enable the Comité de Lutte contre les Pratiques Traditionnelles portant Atteinte aux Femmes (CPTAFE) …

Scaling Up A Reproductive Health Curriculum In Youth Training Courses, Laila Rahman, M. Mazharul Islam, Ubaidur Rob, Ismat Bhuiya, M.E. Khan

Reproductive Health

The Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health (FRONTIERS) program, in collaboration with the Bangladesh Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Urban Family Health Partnership, and two nongovernmental service delivery partners, carried out the Global Youth project in northwestern Bangladesh from 1999–2003. The important lesson learned from that project was that reproductive health education could increase reproductive health knowledge in adolescents, particularly in areas related to reproductive biology, family planning, pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, HIV, and AIDS. The population-based surveys further showed that contrary to common belief, reproductive health education does not increase sexual activity; instead it increases the use …

Costs Of Reproductive Health Services Provided By Four Christian Health Association Of Ghana (Chag) Hospitals, James Boateng, Henry Surnye, Alex Mensah, Bismark Boateng, Philomena Nyarko, Nzoya Munguti, John H. Bratt

Reproductive Health

The Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) is a large faith-based NGO which currently serves an estimated 35 percent of the Ghanaian population, mainly in remote rural areas. This study built capacity within the CHAG secretariat to calculate the economic cost and cost recovery levels of selected reproductive health services in four CHAG-affiliated hospitals. Techniques learned in the study are applicable to most costing problems, not just to reproductive health. Information obtained in the study forms the basis for negotiating reimbursement under the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme, and for setting cost recovery and containment policies. CHAG senior managers plan …

Priority Setting For Reproductive Health At The District Level In The Context Of Health Sector Reforms In Ghana, Harriet Birungi, Philomena Nyarko, Ian Askew, Ayorinde Ajayi, Gifty Addico, Edward Addai, Caroline Jehu-Appiah

Reproductive Health

This report outlines results of an in-depth assessment carried out in Ghana in order to provide a better understanding of key factors affecting reproductive health (RH) prioritization at the district level; and to make recommendations for policy dialogue, advocacy, resource allocation, and RH program implementation. In particular, the study examined whether or not districts are connecting to the central process of priority setting and reasons for not doing so. The report includes recommendations for bridging the policy implementation gap, including: ensuring that RH advocates participate in national policy dialogue; investing in systems development for procurement and delivery of drugs and …

Acceptability And Feasibility Of Introducing The Who Focused Antenatal Care Package In Ghana, Harriet Birungi, Philomena Nyarko, Margaret Armar-Klemesu, Daniel Arhinful, Sylvia Deganus, Henrietta Odoi-Agyarko, Gladys Brew

Reproductive Health

The main objective of this study, undertaken by Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service and FRONTIERS, with USAID funding, was to examine the extent to which adaptation of the WHO focused antenatal care (ANC) package influenced quality of care received by pregnant women and its acceptability to both providers and clients. The results indicate that national-level support for focused ANC is high. The package appears to have been well accepted by both clients and providers because of its comprehensiveness and the individualized care. The process of stimulating changes in focused ANC service delivery …

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 …

Cost Analysis Of Reproductive Health Services In Pcea Chogoria Hospital, Kenya, Nzoya Munguti, Moses Mokua, Rick Homan, Harriet Birungi

Reproductive Health

Presbyterian Church of East Africa Chogoria Hospital is a faith-based nongovernmental organization providing a wide range of healthcare services. The organization faces a number of challenges related to sustainability: declining donor support (especially for reproductive health services), low cost recovery levels, and increasing poverty levels among its clientele. In response to these concerns, a team from Chogoria Hospital attended a one-week workshop on financial sustainability held in Ghana and developed a small-scale operations research project to determine the cost of providing a selected number of reproductive health (RH) services and to evaluate their cost recovery levels. The study found that …

Correlates Of Inter-Birth Intervals: Implications Of Optimal Birth Spacing Strategies In Mozambique, Saumya Ramarao, John Townsend, Ian Askew

Reproductive Health

The Optimal Birth Spacing Initiative (OBSI) was created under the auspices of USAID to place optimal birth spacing on the global leadership priority agenda. As part of this initiative, Advance Africa documented a pilot intervention to introduce the new spacing message in Mozambique. The FRONTIERS program of the Population Council collaborated with Advance Africa providing technical input, and assistance in the conceptualization of intervention design and evaluation. This paper was written to inform Advance Africa’s efforts in Mozambique and includes a short review of correlates of birth intervals; a presentation of results from analysis of Mozambique-DHS 1997 data that identify …

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 …

Cost Of Training Programs And Willingness To Pay For Training: An Application Of Break-Even Analysis In Uganda, Nicholas Mugumya, Juliana K. Nyombi, Michael Matsiko, Rick Homan, Harriet Birungi, Nzoya Munguti

Reproductive Health

The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) provides care and support to persons living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda. The organization has also developed a large number of training courses related to AIDS care and counseling that are offered to local and regional organizations. To explore alternatives for increasing the sustainability of the training center, a team from TASO attended a one-week workshop on financial sustainability and developed an operations research study to determine ways in which the training center could increase its revenues and reduce costs. The report finds that with updated fees as well as changes to the structure of some …

Operations Research To Improve Financial Sustainability In Three Bolivian Ngos, Martha Merida, Javier Arce, Douglas Moscoso, Carlo Ramirez, Patricia Riveros, John H. Bratt

Reproductive Health

The FRONTIERS project worked with three Bolivian NGOs (Prosalud, the Center for Research, Education and Services or CIES, and the Association of Rural Health Programs or APSAR) to improve their ability to conduct research on market analysis and cost recovery. Following a one-week workshop on conducting cost studies, staff from the three NGOs designed operations research studies to help with decisions on planning and cost recovery. Study findings showed that cost recovery varied from high (Prosalud, 83-109%) to low (CIES, 38-46%) and very low (APSAR, 10-25%), depending on the service. All three studies focused on alternative options to client fees, …

Sexual Harassment In The Workplace: Experiences Of Women In The Health Sector, Paramita Chaudhuri

Reproductive Health

The objective of this report is to explore sexual harassment of women in the health sector in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Specifically, it explores women’s perceptions of the occurrence of sexual harassment in hospital settings, and probes women’s own experiences of sexual harassment and incidents of sexual harassment in the hospital environment about which women are aware. The study also investigates the nature of action taken to seek redress, and the extent to which working women are aware of the complaint mechanism outlined by the Supreme Court. Findings confirm the persistence of sexual harassment in the workplace, the reluctance of …

Employees' Attitudes Toward Motivation Techniques And Assessment Methods In A Health Care Organization, Deborah C. Ison

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The completion of this study will answer the following goals: 1. What are employee's attitudes regarding motivation techniques and assessment methods used in this organization? 2. What effects do the employee motivation techniques and assessment methods utilized in this organization have on employee satisfaction and retention? 3. What role does management play in employee motivation and retention effectiveness and how can this role be improved?

Effects Of The Workbook God's Way To An A Om Students Grade Point Averages, Donna Koson

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The problem of this study was to determine the effects of the workbook, "God's Way to an A: Encountering Christ in Your Academics," on academic achievement measured by the grade point averages of students in a freshman orientation course at Palm Beach Atlantic University.

The Effectiveness Of The Behavior-Based Safety Program At Jacobs Sverdrup's Nasa Langley Rome Contract, Tony A. Mettert

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

To guide this problem, the following hypothesis was established: 1. There was a direct correlation between the number of behavior based safety observations performed and safety incident rates of the employees under the ROME contract.

Academic Performance Of Students Who Receive Need-Based Financial Aid, Corey W. Carlson

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

To guide this research, the following hypothesis was established: 1. there is a positive difference in academic grade point average for students who receive need-based financial aid compared to those who do not receive need-based financial aid.

A Comparative Study Of The Effectiveness Of Distance Learning In Opticianry Education, Kristi Ostrom

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

To guide this study, the following hypothesis was established: 1. Within the members of the National Federation of Opticianry Schools that offer associate degree distance education programs via the internet for opticianry, there will be no difference in the number of students who will successfully complete their state licensure examinations.

The Need For A Building Trades Program At Brunswick Senior High School, Raymond P. Bersch

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The objectives of this study were to explore the following questions: 1. What are the economic projections for the demand of building trade workers in southside Virginia? 2. What is the need for work opportunities for students graduating from high school? 3. What are the skills the local construction industry needs new employees to be proficient in? 4. How effective is Mecklenburg County's building trades program in placing students in the building trades industry?

Differences In Work Expectations Held By Differing Generations Of American Workers, Jeanian Clark

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

To guide the study, the following questions have been developed: 1. Are there generational differences in the beliefs about what it means to work hard, take initiative, or contribute to the organization? 2. Are there differences in the expectations of a work and life balance among the four generations of employees? 3. Do differences among generational cohorts exist in the expectations about compensation and rewards? 4. Does each generation take a different approach to career development? How do these approaches differ?

Report, Library Assessment 2006/2007, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg. Nelson Poynter Memorial Library

Library Student Assessments

An assessment of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg's Nelson Poynter Memorial Library.

Multi-Year Plan (2006-2011) - Sudan, Sudan Mine Action Sector

Global CWD Repository

The purpose of the Multi-Year Plan is to demonstrate the commitments of each partner in the Mine Action Sector in Sudan to implement mine action activities in accordance with the National Strategic Framework and towards meeting national and international obligations, most importantly the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty (the Ottawa Convention). Under Article 5 of the Ottawa Convention, each country must clear all known or suspect minefields within ten years after the Convention came into force in that country: Sudan's deadline for clearance is 2014.

This document presents the sector plan for the Phase 1 starting in January 2009, ending in …

Itf Enhancing Human Security Annual Report 2006, Itf-Enhancy Human Security

Global CWD Repository

There is a significant public and political awareness of the mine problem in South East Europe (SEE) and the enormous impact that landmines have on safety, as well as on the humanitarian, economic and environmental development of the region. Slovenian Government has recognized its role in the SEE region 9 years ago by establishing the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF). With its contribution of more than 4,9 million USD, Slovenia has greatly contributed to the increased stability and safer environment in the region of SEE.

Since the start ITF has grown into an internationally recognized …

“You Can’T Hustle All Your Life”: An Exploratory Investigation Of The Exit Process Among Street-Level Prostituted Women, Rochelle L. Dalla

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Between 1998 and 1999, 43 street-level prostituted women were interviewed regarding their developmental experiences, including prostitution entry, maintenance, and exit attempts. Three years later, 18 of the original 43 participants were located and interviewed. This exploratory follow-up investigation focused on the women’s life experiences between the two points of contact, with emphasis on sex-industry exit attempts. Five women had maintained their exit efforts and had not returned to prostitution, nine had returned to both prostitution and drug use, and one had returned to prostitution only. Three additional women had violated parole and been reincarcerated. Themes evident among those who were …

Mutant Neurogenin-3 In Congenital Malabsorptive Diarrhea, Jiafang Wang, Galen Cortina, S. Vincent Wu, Robert Tran, Jang-Hyeon Cho, Ming-Jer Tsai, Travis J. Bailey, Milan Jamrich, Marvin E. Ament, William R. Treem, Ivor D. Hill, Jorge H. Vargas, George Gershman, Douglas G. Farmer, Laurie Reyen, Martin G. Martín

Biology

Background: Neurogenin-3 (NEUROG3) is expressed in endocrine progenitor cells and is required for endocrine-cell development in the pancreas and intestine. The NEUROG3 gene (NEUROG3) is therefore a candidate for the cause of a newly discovered autosomal recessive disorder characterized by generalized malabsorption and a paucity of enteroendocrine cells. Methods: We screened genomic DNA from three unrelated patients with sparse enteroendocrine cells for mutations of NEUROG3. We then tested the ability of the observed mutations to alter NEUROG3 function, using in vitro and in vivo assays. Results: The patients had few intestinal enteroendocrine cells positive for chromogranin A, but they had …

Female Genital Mutlation [Sic]: An Emerging Public Health Concern, Sarah Jan Brown

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.