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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Behavior Prioritization To Improve Sbc (Social And Behavior Change) Programming During A Public Health Emergency: A Call To Action, Breakthrough Research
Behavior Prioritization To Improve Sbc (Social And Behavior Change) Programming During A Public Health Emergency: A Call To Action, Breakthrough Research
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
As the international development community continues to manage public health challenges and emerging diseases, the need for behavior prioritization is critical. The information in this brief provides rationale for why behavior prioritization is instrumental to improve social and behavior change programming, and ends with a call to action for advocacy for behavior prioritization processes as part of social and behavior change program design, planning, and adaptation. During the Zika outbreak in Latin America, a review of USAID-supported programming in 2017 revealed more than 30 Zika preventive behaviors and messages promoted by different implementing partners, and messaging on desired behaviors was …
Law Library Blog (October 2019): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law
Law Library Blog (October 2019): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law
Law Library Newsletters/Blog
No abstract provided.
The Business Case For Investing In Social And Behavior Change For Family Planning, James Rosen, Nicole M. Bellows, Lori Bollinger, Willyanne Decormier Plosky, Michelle Weinberger
The Business Case For Investing In Social And Behavior Change For Family Planning, James Rosen, Nicole M. Bellows, Lori Bollinger, Willyanne Decormier Plosky, Michelle Weinberger
Reproductive Health
Although the development field generally considers social and behavior change interventions essential parts of quality health programs, lack of synthesized information on costs and effectiveness means that decision-makers under-appreciate and under-fund social and behavior change efforts. This business case uses evidence to answer questions about the effectiveness, cost, cost-effectiveness, and return on investment from social and behavior change efforts. To develop this family planning social and behavior change business case, nearly 200 studies were evaluated. All USAID strategic priorities for global health—preventing child and maternal deaths, controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and combating infectious diseases—employ social and behavior change approaches to …
Guidelines For Costing Of Social And Behavior Change Health Interventions, James Rosen, Willyanne Decormier Plosky, Lori Bollinger
Guidelines For Costing Of Social And Behavior Change Health Interventions, James Rosen, Willyanne Decormier Plosky, Lori Bollinger
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
These Guidelines for Costing of Social and Behavior Change Health Interventions (SBC Costing Guidelines) provide a framework for estimating the cost of interventions for social and behavior change, which seek to change health behaviors by addressing factors such as knowledge, attitudes, and social norms.
Family Planning And Youth In West Africa: Mass Media, Digital Media, And Social And Behavior Change Communication Strategies, Sarah Castle, Martha Silva
Family Planning And Youth In West Africa: Mass Media, Digital Media, And Social And Behavior Change Communication Strategies, Sarah Castle, Martha Silva
Reproductive Health
This review presents evidence about the impact of mass media and digital media on young people’s family planning attitudes and behaviors. It primarily focuses on the Ouagadougou Partnership countries, but also describes lessons from other initiatives implemented more widely in Africa and elsewhere. Due to the paucity of family planning evidence, the review also includes material from higher income countries where mass and digital media have been used in communication initiatives to prevent non-communicable diseases. In addition, it draws on studies from low- and middle income countries where such media have been used to create demand for maternal and child …
Enhancing Respectful Maternal Care During Labor And Delivery, Breakthrough Research
Enhancing Respectful Maternal Care During Labor And Delivery, Breakthrough Research
Reproductive Health
This brief informs national ministries of Health, health system officials, staff and clients, implementing partners, and donors of innovative ways to improve women's experiences during labor and delivery. ideas42, in partnership with Safe Motherhood 360+ and the Chipata District Health Office in Zambia, under the Breakthrough RESEARCH project, used behavioral design to analyze contextual features and behavioral barriers to respectful maternal care in urban and rural health care settings. Behavioral design revealed new insights into why health care providers may not follow best practices for respectful maternal care, and resulted in a set of simple, adaptable low cost solutions to …
Zika-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices: Programmatic Implications For Zika Prevention In Honduras, Breakthrough Research
Zika-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices: Programmatic Implications For Zika Prevention In Honduras, Breakthrough Research
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This brief provides key insights for implementers of social and behavior change activities for Zika prevention in Honduras, based on data from a representative sample of people living in selected USAID Zika program implementation communities, supporting an evidence-based approach to increase Zika and other Aedes aegypti-transmitted virus prevention behaviors.
Strengthening In-Service Training And Continuing Education (Ist/Ce) For Frontline Health Workers For Bauchi And Cross River States, Ekechi Okereke, Godwin Unumeri, Ibrahim Suleiman, Aisha Jibril
Strengthening In-Service Training And Continuing Education (Ist/Ce) For Frontline Health Workers For Bauchi And Cross River States, Ekechi Okereke, Godwin Unumeri, Ibrahim Suleiman, Aisha Jibril
Reproductive Health
This brief details Council efforts to develop effective, and costed, in-service training and continuing education modules for frontline health workers in Bauchi and Cross River states in Nigeria. This project was funded by WHO to aid the training and development of Nigeria's public health worker sector.
Gender And Power Metrics Database, Population Council
Gender And Power Metrics Database, Population Council
Reproductive Health
This compendium of gender- and power-related scales used in social health and behavioral science research includes unique scales, many tested in multiple settings, that come primarily from the areas of sexual and reproductive health, family planning, STIs/HIV, and intimate partner violence. The database includes multi-item scales and single-item questions that reflect gender norms, personal views or beliefs about gender roles and norms, related feelings or emotions, gender role stress, gendered-dynamics, power and control in relationships, and individual-level agency and self-efficacy, among others. The database facilitates the identification of validated scales for use in a given population or setting, fosters exchange …
Implementing And Scaling-Up Stepping Stones In Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa: Lessons From Working In Informal Settlements, Cecilia Milford, M. Mtshali, Mags Beksinska, Julie Pulerwitz
Implementing And Scaling-Up Stepping Stones In Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa: Lessons From Working In Informal Settlements, Cecilia Milford, M. Mtshali, Mags Beksinska, Julie Pulerwitz
HIV and AIDS
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), a major epicenter of the South African HIV epidemic, has large informal settlements where thousands of people live. The settlements are often underserved by municipal services and lack accessible health care. Given high rates of HIV, there is a critical need to assess the successes and challenges of implementing HIV prevention and treatment in this context. Stepping Stones is a widely used life-skills training intervention focused on curbing gender-based violence and reducing HIV risk. The program addresses issues such as communication about HIV, relationship skills, and assertiveness. The manual-based curriculum encourages participants to engage in critical reflection through …
Antihypertensive Drugs, Population Council
Antihypertensive Drugs, Population Council
Reproductive Health
Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a condition in pregnant women marked by an increase in blood pressure and protein in the urine after 20 weeks gestation. Eclampsia is a life-threatening condition characterized by convulsions in women with PE. PE/E and other hypertensive disorders in pregnancy increase risk of preterm births. Providing high-quality and regular antenatal care improves the prevention and early detection of PE and can prevent its progression to eclampsia. Prescribing low-dose aspirin and calcium to at-risk women can prevent PE and eclampsia. PE and eclampsia can be managed by administering antihypertensive drugs and magnesium sulphate (MgSO4). MgSO4 is the safest …
Autonomy, Intimate Partner Violence, And Maternal Health-Seeking Behavior: Findings From Mixed-Methods Analysis In Nigeria, Pooja Sripad, Charity Ndwiga, Charlotte E. Warren
Autonomy, Intimate Partner Violence, And Maternal Health-Seeking Behavior: Findings From Mixed-Methods Analysis In Nigeria, Pooja Sripad, Charity Ndwiga, Charlotte E. Warren
Reproductive Health
Gendered norms and discriminatory practices often limit women’s decision-making power, which over time can lead to social norms that systematically subordinate women. Aspects of empowerment were explored in a global evaluation of Demographic and Health Survey data that measured how gendered social norms influenced maternal health-seeking behaviors. Analysis specifically explored associations of women’s autonomy and acceptability of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) on antenatal care use and facility delivery in 63 low- and middle-income countries. Service utilization is positively associated with increased autonomy and negatively associated with increased acceptability of IPVAW, but variability exists across countries and regions. In …
Assessing The Effect Of A Primary Health Care Intervention For Improving Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia Knowledge And Practice In Bangladesh, Sharif M.I. Hossain, Shongkour Roy, Kanij Sultana, Charlotte E. Warren
Assessing The Effect Of A Primary Health Care Intervention For Improving Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia Knowledge And Practice In Bangladesh, Sharif M.I. Hossain, Shongkour Roy, Kanij Sultana, Charlotte E. Warren
Reproductive Health
In resource-poor countries such as Bangladesh, proven life-saving commodities for pregnant women have not been optimally examined, such as magnesium sulphate (MgSO4) to manage severe pre-eclampsia/eclampsia, use of anti-hypertensives to manage high blood pressure during pregnancy, aspirin prophylaxis for pregnant women at high risk of PE/E, as well as task shifting to lower health-worker cadres, and community involvement. There has been no systematic review of research and programming on PE/E prevention, early detection, and treatment in Bangladesh. With support from USAID, the Ending Eclampsia project has been expanding access to proven, underutilized interventions and commodities for PE/E prevention, early detection, …
Feasibility And Acceptability Of Community Health Extension Workers To Identify And Treat Hypertension Associated With Pregnancy: Implementation Research Report, Emmanuel Nwala, Udochisom Anaba, Pooja Sripad, Salisu Mohammed Ishaku, Charlotte E. Warren
Feasibility And Acceptability Of Community Health Extension Workers To Identify And Treat Hypertension Associated With Pregnancy: Implementation Research Report, Emmanuel Nwala, Udochisom Anaba, Pooja Sripad, Salisu Mohammed Ishaku, Charlotte E. Warren
Reproductive Health
Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, experienced by 10 percent of women globally, are major contributors to maternal and newborn mortality, morbidity, and disability. Task shifting essential health services to mitigate insufficient human resources is recommended to strengthen and expand the health workforce and rapidly increase access to quality services. Nigeria’s task-shifting policy recommends that community health extension workers administer a loading dose of magnesium sulphate for severe pre-eclampsia or eclampsia prior to referral to a higher-level facility. This study tested the feasibility and acceptability of community health extension workers at primary health care facilities in Ebonyi state in detecting and managing …
"No To Circumcision": The Road To Effective Social Marketing Campaigns In Egypt, Salma Abou Hussein, Sarah Ghattass
"No To Circumcision": The Road To Effective Social Marketing Campaigns In Egypt, Salma Abou Hussein, Sarah Ghattass
Reproductive Health
To inform the design and scale up of initiatives that can drive a change in attitudes and behaviors toward FGM/C abandonment, there is a rising need to understand the perspectives of individuals who are exposed to social marketing campaigns (SMCs), which are a key intervention to promote the abandonment of the practice. This working paper presents the findings of a study that sought to understand how, where, and why SMCs for FGM/C abandonment are working, and with what impact, to inform design and scale-up of campaigns that can foster new perspectives, expectations, and behaviors.
Post-Intervention Analysis Of Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia In Three Nigerian States, Salisu Mohammed Ishaku, Emmanuel Nwala, Gloria Adoyi, Charles Nwigwe, Solomon Kongyamba, Udochisom Anaba, Caroline Johnson, Karen Kirk, Pooja Sripad, Charlotte E. Warren
Post-Intervention Analysis Of Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia In Three Nigerian States, Salisu Mohammed Ishaku, Emmanuel Nwala, Gloria Adoyi, Charles Nwigwe, Solomon Kongyamba, Udochisom Anaba, Caroline Johnson, Karen Kirk, Pooja Sripad, Charlotte E. Warren
Reproductive Health
In the last three decades, global maternal mortality has decreased by almost 45 percent, but approximately 830 women still die daily from largely preventable pregnancy complications. Since 2015, the Ending Eclampsia project, with support from USAID, has been working to expand proven, underutilized interventions and commodities for pre-eclampsia/eclampsia (PE/E) prevention, early detection, and treatment, and to strengthen global partnerships for care of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP), of which PE/E are the severest forms. A systematic review of the literature identifies a number of articles reporting PE/E burdens within set populations, common risk factors, adverse outcomes, and mortality rates, but …
Situation Analysis Of Reproductive Health Of Adolescents And Youth In Pakistan, Iram Kamran, Rehan M. Niazi, Kiren Khan, Faisal Abbas
Situation Analysis Of Reproductive Health Of Adolescents And Youth In Pakistan, Iram Kamran, Rehan M. Niazi, Kiren Khan, Faisal Abbas
Reproductive Health
This report presents a situation analysis of the reproductive health of adolescents and youth in Pakistan. It is intended to contribute to evidence-based policies and programs for realizing reproductive rights and choices for young people through health information and services, education programs, and strategic partnerships. The study included a literature review, secondary analysis of data from the Pakistan Demographic Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, and a qualitative study of perspectives of unmarried adolescent boys and girls (aged 15–19), including both school-going and out-of-school individuals, as well as boys and girls with disabilities, in peri-urban areas of Islamabad, Lahore, …
The Girl Roster: A Practical Tool For Strengthening Girl-Centered Programming, Population Council
The Girl Roster: A Practical Tool For Strengthening Girl-Centered Programming, Population Council
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This brief describes the Girl RosterTM, a practical tool designed by the Population Council to help practitioners understand their program areas and elicit foundational information to intentionally link girls—especially highly marginalized adolescent girls—to the vital resources, facilities, and services to which they are entitled but often have limited or no access. The tool is a user-friendly, efficient, and cost-effective way to collect program-relevant information about girls in a community, using a mobile phone–based questionnaire (or, where resources do not permit, paper and pencil). The tool enables users to see a fuller view of girls’ lived realities in defined …
Collaboration With The University Of Calabar For Human Resources For Health Management Training For Bauchi And Cross River States, Ekechi Okereke, Godwin Unumeri, Ibrahim Suleiman, Aisha Jibril
Collaboration With The University Of Calabar For Human Resources For Health Management Training For Bauchi And Cross River States, Ekechi Okereke, Godwin Unumeri, Ibrahim Suleiman, Aisha Jibril
Reproductive Health
A pool of knowledgeable staff is required within middle and senior management for long-term human resources for health (HRH) planning and effective management at all levels of the health system—federal, state, and local. This brief reports on the training by the Population Council, in partnership with the World Health Organization in Nigeria, of 105 key personnel on HRH planning, management, policy dialogue, advocacy, and resourcing for the HRH project “Enhancing the Ability of Frontline Health Workers to Improve Health in Nigeria.” Critical HRH-related capacities were built among key Nigerian health system personnel and managers, most significantly in the states of …
Fgm/C And Ecm: Drawing Lessons From Research, Jacinta Muteshi-Strachan
Fgm/C And Ecm: Drawing Lessons From Research, Jacinta Muteshi-Strachan
Reproductive Health
No abstract provided.
Practice-Based Learning: Observations On One-Stop Centers In Refugee Settings, Chi-Chi Undie, Josephine Ngebeh, Jane Harriet Namwebya, Joanina Karugaba
Practice-Based Learning: Observations On One-Stop Centers In Refugee Settings, Chi-Chi Undie, Josephine Ngebeh, Jane Harriet Namwebya, Joanina Karugaba
Reproductive Health
One-Stop Centers’ (OSCs) have grown in popularity for responding to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the East, Horn, and Great Lakes regions of Africa. OSCs attempt to provide an integrated, multisectoral response to SGBV survivors’ needs in one location. In resource-constrained settings, the most common services offered at OSCs include health care, psycho-social support, police and judicial services, as well as social support. Studies demonstrate that health-facility-based OSCs that are owned and run by health-facility staff are more effective than NGO-run OSCs in achieving the broadest range of desired health and legal outcomes for SGBV survivors. In collaboration with …
Hypertensive Disorders In Pregnancy: Assessing Postnatal Quality Of Care And Outcomes For Women And Their Infants In Bangladesh, Sharif M.I. Hossain, Kanij Sultana, Salma Rouf, Rabeya Akter, Shongkour Roy, Sumaiya Anwar, Karen Kirk, Charlotte E. Warren
Hypertensive Disorders In Pregnancy: Assessing Postnatal Quality Of Care And Outcomes For Women And Their Infants In Bangladesh, Sharif M.I. Hossain, Kanij Sultana, Salma Rouf, Rabeya Akter, Shongkour Roy, Sumaiya Anwar, Karen Kirk, Charlotte E. Warren
Reproductive Health
Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDPs) are the second leading cause of maternal mortality in Bangladesh, responsible for 24 percent of maternal deaths. Various factors, such as lack of health-care provider capacities for detecting, preventing, and managing pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E), late referrals, late (or lack of) antenatal care (ANC), and poor awareness of PE/E, are factors in most of these deaths. While some information was available on the prenatal and postnatal periods, an evidence gap existed in information after delivery through the first year postnatal, and beyond. In this prospective cohort study, the Ending Eclampsia project recruited married women ages …
Enhancing Customer Satisfaction For Health Services, Deepa Rajamani, Saumya Ramarao
Enhancing Customer Satisfaction For Health Services, Deepa Rajamani, Saumya Ramarao
Reproductive Health
The Family Planning (FP) 2020 global partnership has achieved significant gains since its inception, and while it strives to accelerate uptake of voluntary FP services, women in developing countries continue to face an unmet need for modern contraceptive services. Critical opportunities for action exist in the area of understanding the effects of quality of family planning services and continued contraceptive use. Measuring and tracking the quality of FP services is an important aspect of improving service delivery, and client feedback also offers critical insight into the design of demand generation and uptake strategies for a contraceptive. In this report, we …
Positioning Family Planning Quality Within Health Financing For Uhc: Connecting The Discourse, Gabrielle Appleford, Saumya Ramarao, Benjamin Bellows, Leah Jarvis
Positioning Family Planning Quality Within Health Financing For Uhc: Connecting The Discourse, Gabrielle Appleford, Saumya Ramarao, Benjamin Bellows, Leah Jarvis
Reproductive Health
Financing is a major challenge and concern for the future of the delivery of voluntary family planning (FP) services to clients, particularly in low- and middle-income countries with high unmet need and limited method choice. As countries commit to universal health coverage (UHC), it is crucial that UHC schemes include FP and other reproductive health (RH) services. Strategic purchasing of quality FP services from public and private—including for profit and not-for-profit—health-care providers could accelerate progress toward UHC. It is increasingly recognized that the FP2020 goals will not be met without adequate attention to quality, and that a sustained focus on …
Examining Early Marriage In India: Qualitative Findings, Neelanjana Pandey, Komal Saxena, Andrea J. Melnikas
Examining Early Marriage In India: Qualitative Findings, Neelanjana Pandey, Komal Saxena, Andrea J. Melnikas
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The More Than Brides Alliance (MTBA) implements the “Marriage: No Child’s Play” program (2016–20) in India, Malawi, Mali, Niger, and Pakistan. The MTBA is a holistic program that addresses early marriage through multiple strategies, including: sexual and reproductive health and rights, livelihoods, education, and prevalent community social norms around marriage. Furthermore, the program operates at multiple levels (girl, family, community, block, and district) to address individual, familial, and structural barriers to reducing child marriage in these communities. This report first looks at the legal environment in which programs operate by examining participants’ awareness of laws, acts, and programs related to …
More Than Brides Alliance: Midline Evaluation Report, Andrea J. Melnikas, Grace Saul, Santosh Kumar Singh, James Mkandawire, Mouhamadou Gueye, Aissa Diarra, Sajeda Amin
More Than Brides Alliance: Midline Evaluation Report, Andrea J. Melnikas, Grace Saul, Santosh Kumar Singh, James Mkandawire, Mouhamadou Gueye, Aissa Diarra, Sajeda Amin
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The More than Brides Alliance (MTBA) was formed to bringing together the strengths of a diverse team skilled in adolescent program implementation and research. The goal of the research presented in this report is to promote an evidence-based programmatic approach to delaying marriage in India, Malawi, Mali, Niger, and Pakistan by gathering detailed quantitative and qualitative information from the program areas over time to examine the impact of the present intervention and inform future strategies. This report highlights data from the midline survey on a set of outcomes approximately midway through the MTBA intervention and compares them with the same …
Health Financing And Family Planning In The Context Of Universal Health Care: Connecting The Discourse In Kenya, Gabrielle Appleford, Saumya Ramarao
Health Financing And Family Planning In The Context Of Universal Health Care: Connecting The Discourse In Kenya, Gabrielle Appleford, Saumya Ramarao
Reproductive Health
Financing is a major challenge and concern for the future of family planning (FP) programs. As countries commit to increasing access to and quality of FP services and to universal health care (UHC), it is crucial that UHC schemes include FP and other reproductive health services. This brief aims to: 1) document trends in UHC and health financing, drawing out implications for policymakers and programmers; and 2) identify opportunities for the FP community of practice to advocate for the inclusion of quality FP services within UHC and health financing discussions. With this brief, we aim to highlight experiences in Kenya, …
Storytelling And Policy Change In Africa's Great Lakes Region, Chi-Chi Undie, Nathan Byamukama, George Odwe, Nachela Chelwa, Harriet Birungi, Michael Mbizvo
Storytelling And Policy Change In Africa's Great Lakes Region, Chi-Chi Undie, Nathan Byamukama, George Odwe, Nachela Chelwa, Harriet Birungi, Michael Mbizvo
Reproductive Health
In April 2019, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region’s Regional Training Facility (ICGLR-RTF) organized a regional meeting entitled “Sensitization Meeting for Police Chiefs and National Reproductive Health Heads in the Great Lakes Region.” Held in Kigo, Uganda, the meeting brought together chiefs of police and heads of reproductive health departments (Ministries of Health) from nine ICGLR member states, namely: Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia. The meeting was sponsored by the Population Council, Kenya. Sauti/VOICE Program Brief 2 describes the preamble to ICGLR-RTF’s meeting resolutions and …
Tracing Change In Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: Shifting Norms And Practices Among Communities In Narok And Kisii Counties, Kenya—Brief, Dennis Matanda, Chantalle Okondo, Caroline W. Kabiru, Bettina Shell-Duncan
Tracing Change In Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: Shifting Norms And Practices Among Communities In Narok And Kisii Counties, Kenya—Brief, Dennis Matanda, Chantalle Okondo, Caroline W. Kabiru, Bettina Shell-Duncan
Reproductive Health
This policy brief summarizes key findings from a study that examined whether there are shifts in norms and practices related to FGM/C among communities in Narok (predominantly inhabited by Maasai) and Kisii (predominantly inhabited by Abagusii) counties in Kenya. Although Kisii and Narok are FGM/C hotspots, practicing communities in these counties are reassessing norms and traditions in light of the current social and legal climate. These changes may provide a useful starting point for intervention programs that seek to create dialogue and critical reflection on the practice of FGM/C in an effort to accelerate its abandonment. Programmatic recommendations include: engaging …
The Medicalisation Of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting In Kenya: Perspectives Of Families And Health Care Providers, Population Council
The Medicalisation Of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting In Kenya: Perspectives Of Families And Health Care Providers, Population Council
Reproductive Health
This evidence brief summarizes key findings from a study that sought to understand the shifts in FGM/C including medicalization among several communities Kenya. The study finds that medicalization is increasing because: 1) it is perceived to be safer because the procedure is reportedly performed under sterile conditions by trained health professionals; 2) it is believed to shorten the recovery period; and 3) it is a response to the law prohibiting the practice because it allows FGM/C to be performed in secret. These findings indicate that medicalization is an adaptation to awareness of the health complications associated with FGM/C and the …