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Public Health Education and Promotion

Maternal/Newborn/Child Health

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Full-Text Articles in Family, Life Course, and Society

Kenya: Helping Adolescent Mothers Remain In School Through Strengthened Implementation Of School Re-Entry Policies, Esther Lwanga Walgwe, Nancy Termini Lachance, Harriet Birungi, Chi-Chi Undie Jan 2016

Kenya: Helping Adolescent Mothers Remain In School Through Strengthened Implementation Of School Re-Entry Policies, Esther Lwanga Walgwe, Nancy Termini Lachance, Harriet Birungi, Chi-Chi Undie

Reproductive Health

By applying robust evidence, securing the support of decisionmakers, and engaging stakeholders, STEP UP enabled national and local decisionmakers to better understand the consequences of unintended pregnancy for adolescent girls’ schooling in Homa Bay County, Kenya. STEP UP is playing an important role in informing the implementation of policies within the Kenyan educational sector that will improve educational opportunities for school-age mothers. Through early stakeholder engagement, strong partnerships, the support of implementers and policymakers, effective communication and dissemination strategies, decisionmaker capacity, and the dedication of the adolescent mothers themselves, evidence generated by STEP UP was successfully utilized by key stakeholders. …


Senegal: The Impact Of A Study On Misoprostol Use And Knowledge Among Pharmacists, Eva Burke, E. Robinson, Nafissatou Diop, Kate Reiss, Katharine Footman, Maaike Van Min, Barbara Reichwein, Ian Askew Jan 2016

Senegal: The Impact Of A Study On Misoprostol Use And Knowledge Among Pharmacists, Eva Burke, E. Robinson, Nafissatou Diop, Kate Reiss, Katharine Footman, Maaike Van Min, Barbara Reichwein, Ian Askew

Reproductive Health

The availability of misoprostol is a key part of improving maternal health in low- and middle-income countries. In Senegal, where the drug is not widely available, pharmacies are one of the few places women can access it. STEP UP conducted a study to understand misoprostol knowledge and provision in these pharmacies. The Ministry of Health’s (MoH) commitment to training public providers and pharmacists on all products on the essential medicines list is a promising step toward bettering the health of women in Senegal. Marie Stopes International (MSI) Senegal continues to work to build the capacity of healthcare providers in the …


Incentivizing Providers To Improve Maternal, Newborn And Child Health Services In Bangladesh: Pay-For-Performance Model Refinement And Advocacy (P4p Mra) Final Report, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Ubaidur Rob, Laila Rahman, A.K.M. Zafar Ullah Khan, Riad Mahmud, Azizul Alim, Ismat Ara Hena, Farhana Akter, Anup Kumar Dey Jan 2012

Incentivizing Providers To Improve Maternal, Newborn And Child Health Services In Bangladesh: Pay-For-Performance Model Refinement And Advocacy (P4p Mra) Final Report, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Ubaidur Rob, Laila Rahman, A.K.M. Zafar Ullah Khan, Riad Mahmud, Azizul Alim, Ismat Ara Hena, Farhana Akter, Anup Kumar Dey

Reproductive Health

An operations research project by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Bangladesh tested the feasibility of a pay-for-performance (P4P) approach, which offered financial incentives to reward service providers for meeting and exceeding specified performance targets for maternal, newborn, and child health services. In response to the encouraging findings, the DGHS implemented a follow-up project, with technical assistance from Population Council and UNICEF, to utilize the experiences and findings of the P4P OR project. Despite it short duration, implementation of the revised P4P scheme induced improvements in service volume and …


Strengthening The Delivery Of Comprehensive Reproductive Health Services At The Community Level In Kenya, Population Council Jan 2011

Strengthening The Delivery Of Comprehensive Reproductive Health Services At The Community Level In Kenya, Population Council

Reproductive Health

The Population Council APHIA II Operations Research Project collaborated with the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation to improve the quality of services offered by community-based midwives in two districts in Western Kenya, to prepare them to offer more comprehensive maternal services through antenatal, obstetric, postpartum, and newborn care. The study found that community midwives can tremendously increase clients’ access to essential maternal health services and other reproductive health services. Therefore Ministry of Health and its partners should scale up community midwives’ activities to enable more women access these services. Furthermore, information campaigns are needed to promote the range of …


Innovative Financing Through Pay-For-Performance For Providers To Improve Quality Of Care In Bangladesh: Transforming Research Into Action, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Ubaidur Rob, Laila Rahman, Ismat Ara Hena Jan 2011

Innovative Financing Through Pay-For-Performance For Providers To Improve Quality Of Care In Bangladesh: Transforming Research Into Action, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Ubaidur Rob, Laila Rahman, Ismat Ara Hena

Reproductive Health

To improve access to and use of facility-based obstetric and newborn care, the Government of Bangladesh is implementing two innovative performance-based financing programs, namely demand-side financing (DSF) and pay-for-performance (P4P). With the purpose of identifying the lessons learned, limitations of the P4P and DSF models, and scopes for cross learning, a two-day workshop was organized in Dhaka. This workshop report, prepared by the Population Council, resulted in several recommendations to modify DSF and P4P schemes. In Bangladesh, the need for continuing performance-based financing programs to meet MDGs and other health indicators is beyond argument, but it is urgently required to …


Increasing Institutional Delivery And Access To Emergency Obstetric Care Services In Rural Uttar Pradesh: Implications For Behavior Change Communication, Population Council Jan 2010

Increasing Institutional Delivery And Access To Emergency Obstetric Care Services In Rural Uttar Pradesh: Implications For Behavior Change Communication, Population Council

Reproductive Health

The Population Council conducted a formative in rural Uttar Pradesh (UP), India to determine the impact of the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) scheme on the current status of institutional delivery in the region, to understand the facilitating factors and barriers in delivering in a health facility, and to identify programmatic and behavior change communication (BCC) initiatives that could accelerate the adoption of institutional delivery. JSY was launched as an intervention to address the barriers to institutional delivery, through the introduction of community-based women volunteers. The study shows that with the introduction of the JSY the rate of institutional delivery jumped …


Future Demands For Services From Public Health Facilities In Uttar Pradesh, Population Council Jan 2010

Future Demands For Services From Public Health Facilities In Uttar Pradesh, Population Council

Reproductive Health

A Population Council-led consortium in India conducted a study to assess (a) the expected workload of public health facilities, and (b) the extent to which the demand for contraception could be met by the existing health facilities in Uttar Pradesh, following the implementation of behavior change communication (BCC) activities. This policy brief recommends that BCC efforts create demand for services and address perceptions that it is “not necessary” to access health care services. BCC must play a greater role in motivating women to move to facilities not just for institutional delivery but for other services as well. BCC can also …


Increasing Early And Exclusive Breastfeeding In Rural Uttar Pradesh: Implications For Behavior Change Communication, Population Council Jan 2010

Increasing Early And Exclusive Breastfeeding In Rural Uttar Pradesh: Implications For Behavior Change Communication, Population Council

Reproductive Health

The Population Council conducted a formative study in rural Uttar Pradesh, India to determine the current status of early and exclusive breastfeeding, understand the facilitating factors and barriers in adopting the desired breastfeeding practices, and identify programmatic and behavior change communication (BCC) initiatives to promote the practice. Findings indicate that efforts by Primary Health Centre staff to counsel and encourage women to breastfeed early could significantly increase adoption of this practice. The policy brief identifies barriers that reflect a lack of knowledge and misperceptions about breastfeeding, but finds that education, supportive family members, and knowledgeable health workers can facilitate breastfeeding. …


Increasing Complete Immunization In Rural Uttar Pradesh: Implications For Behavior Change Communication, Population Council Jan 2010

Increasing Complete Immunization In Rural Uttar Pradesh: Implications For Behavior Change Communication, Population Council

Reproductive Health

The Population Council conducted a formative study in rural Uttar Pradesh, India to determine the current rate of compliance for recommended schedules of child immunization, identify the barriers and factors facilitating the uptake of full immunization, and identify behavior change communication (BCC) initiatives that could accelerate adoption of this practice. This policy brief identifies a number of barriers to immunization: low risk perception, lack of faith in vaccines, lack of knowledge about vaccines, fear of side effects, lack of family support, and lack of knowledge about location and type of services available. The brief also identifies several facilitating factors and …


Guidelines For Pilot Study On Introducing Pay-For-Performance (P4p) Approach To Increase Utilization Of Maternal, Newborn And Child Health Services In Bangladesh, Directorate General Of Health Services (Dghs), Population Council, Unicef Jan 2010

Guidelines For Pilot Study On Introducing Pay-For-Performance (P4p) Approach To Increase Utilization Of Maternal, Newborn And Child Health Services In Bangladesh, Directorate General Of Health Services (Dghs), Population Council, Unicef

Reproductive Health

The Population Council launched a pilot study to test two Pay-for-Performance (P4P) strategies to improve MNCH services in Bangladesh. This document presents guidelines for offering incentives to providers, distributing coupons, and forming P4P and/or Coupon Committees and Quality Assurance Groups. The guidelines were developed over the course of five policy-level and consensus-building workshops with national and local-level program managers and service providers, organized under the leadership of the DGHS, in consideration of the local context and sustainability in case of nationwide replication in the country. These guidelines will come into effect upon receiving approval from the DGHS, Ministry of Health …


Increasing Appropriate Complementary Feeding In Rural Uttar Pradesh: Implications For Behavior Change Communication, Population Council Jan 2010

Increasing Appropriate Complementary Feeding In Rural Uttar Pradesh: Implications For Behavior Change Communication, Population Council

Reproductive Health

The Population Council conducted a formative study in rural Uttar Pradesh, India to determine current complementary feeding practices among children aged 6–23 months; understand the facilitating factors and barriers in adopting appropriate complementary feeding practices; and identify programmatic and behavior change communication (BCC) initiatives that could promote the adoption of appropriate complementary feeding practices. The qualitative study shows that women and family members did not feed a measured quantity of food to their children. A lack of knowledge and lack of communication created barriers to initiating complementary feeding. The policy brief recognized education and antenatal care as facilitating factors and …


Increasing The Practice Of Thermal Care To Prevent Newborn Hypothermia: Implications For Behavior Change Communication In Rural Uttar Pradesh, Population Council Jan 2010

Increasing The Practice Of Thermal Care To Prevent Newborn Hypothermia: Implications For Behavior Change Communication In Rural Uttar Pradesh, Population Council

Reproductive Health

The Population Council conducted a formative study in rural Uttar Pradesh, India to assess current newborn bathing practices and the methods adopted to keep the baby warm immediately after birth; explore the beliefs that guide these customs and practices; identify the barriers and facilitating factors in adopting healthy newborn care practices, such as skin-to-skin contact (STSC); and identify programmatic and behavior change communication (BCC) initiatives that could accelerate the adoption of newborn care practices. Barriers included misconceptions about the consequences of bathing a newborn and a lack of awareness among mothers and health workers about STSC. Facilitating factors included contact …


Brief Report: Activities And Achievements Of The P4p Project—Introducing Pay-For-Performance (P4p) Approach To Increase Utilization Of Maternal, Newborn, And Child Health Services In Bangladesh, Population Council Jan 2010

Brief Report: Activities And Achievements Of The P4p Project—Introducing Pay-For-Performance (P4p) Approach To Increase Utilization Of Maternal, Newborn, And Child Health Services In Bangladesh, Population Council

Reproductive Health

A pilot study was initiated in Bangladesh for testing Pay-for-Performance for providers and clients in improving maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) services by addressing supply and demand-side barriers. With funding from UNICEF, the Population Council provided technical assistance for the operations research study implemented by the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of Bangladesh. Necessary and key human resource placement and training on integrated management of childhood illness, emergency operations centers, newborn care, infection prevention, and waste management are important for better performance in all facilities. In spite of existing barriers, …


Ethnic Differentials In Parental Health Seeking For Childhood Illness In Vietnam, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, James F. Phillips Jan 2007

Ethnic Differentials In Parental Health Seeking For Childhood Illness In Vietnam, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, James F. Phillips

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The recent introduction of user fees for Vietnam’s primary healthcare services has generated concern that economic policies may adversely affect health-seeking behavior and health outcomes of the poor, particularly among impoverished families who are members of socially marginalized minority groups. This Population Council working paper examines this debate by analyzing parental recall of illness and care-seeking for sick children under age 5 recorded by the 2001–02 Vietnam National Health Survey. Ethnic differentials are evident in all geographic and income levels, although adverse effects of minority status are most pronounced among poor households in remote areas. Results suggest that social equity …


Honduras: Posparto Y Post-Aborto, Momentos Para Hablar De Planificación Familiar, Frontiers In Reproductive Health Jan 2001

Honduras: Posparto Y Post-Aborto, Momentos Para Hablar De Planificación Familiar, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

Aproximadamente la mitad de los partos en Honduras son atendidos en un hospital. Sin embargo, los hospitales generalmente no ofrecen servicios de planificación familiar a las pacientes en el posparto o el postaborto. En 1999, la Secretaría de Salud de Honduras (SSH) y el Population Council iniciaron un proyecto de dos años con el fin de ampliar el acceso a la consejería y a los servicios de planificación familiar después de un parto o de haber recibido tratamiento por un aborto incompleto. La intervención se realizó basándose en un proyecto previo del Population Council que mostró que el 30 por …


Honduras: Postpartum And Postabortion Patients Want Family Planning, Frontiers In Reproductive Health Jan 2001

Honduras: Postpartum And Postabortion Patients Want Family Planning, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

Approximately half of deliveries in Honduras take place in hospitals, however hospitals rarely offer family planning (FP) services to postpartum or postabortion patients. In 1999, the Honduran Ministry of Health and the Population Council began a two-year project to expand access to FP counseling and methods following childbirth or treatment for incomplete abortion. The intervention built upon a previous Population Council project that showed that 30 percent of women hospitalized for a delivery or an abortion-related complication were interested in adopting an FP method prior to discharge. In all five hospitals participating in the study, delivery was the principal reason …


Doing More With Less: The Marie Stopes Clinics In Sierra Leone, Nahid Toubia, Grace Ebun Delano Jan 1995

Doing More With Less: The Marie Stopes Clinics In Sierra Leone, Nahid Toubia, Grace Ebun Delano

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This edition of Quality/Calidad/Qualité reports on the Marie Stopes Sierra Leone (MSSL) organization which pursues its goals with compassion and ambition, despite seemingly insurmountable economic hardships. MSSL has established a service model that many programs in richer countries should try to imitate. Several particularly important lessons emerged, including: creative, skillful management, well-organized and flexible financial administration, and human motivation and perseverance can enable an organization to overcome financial difficulties; family planning is an integral part of people's reproductive and general health concerns and can dovetail with concern for development in useful and practical ways; men appreciate being involved in the …


Celebrating Mother And Child On The Fortieth Day: The Sfax Tunisia Postpartum Program, Francine Coeytaux, Beverly Winikoff Jan 1989

Celebrating Mother And Child On The Fortieth Day: The Sfax Tunisia Postpartum Program, Francine Coeytaux, Beverly Winikoff

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This edition of Quality/Calidad/Qualité gives information about a postnatal family planning program in the Sfax Center of the Tunisia Maternity and Newborns Hospital. This program, developed jointly by the national family planning program and the Maternity staff, has had extraordinary success in getting more mothers to return after six weeks for their postnatal visit. During the visit, the period between births is discussed; and family planning services are offered as an important means for achieving both the recovery and good health of the mother, as well as the physical and mental development of the infant. The report describes a few …


Festejando A La Madre Y Al Bebé En El Cuarentavo Día El Programa Post-Parto De Sfax, Tunicia, Francine Coeytaux, Beverly Winikoff Jan 1989

Festejando A La Madre Y Al Bebé En El Cuarentavo Día El Programa Post-Parto De Sfax, Tunicia, Francine Coeytaux, Beverly Winikoff

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

En esta edición de Quality/Calidad/Qualité se da información sobre un programa de planificación familiar postnatal que se lleva a cabo en el Centro Sfax del Hospital de Tunisia para Maternidad y Recién Nacidos. Este programa, desarrollado conjuntamente por el programa nacional de planificación familiar y por el personal de Maternidad, ha tenido extraordinario éxito en lograr que un mayor número de madres regresen después de seis semanas a su visita postnatal. Durante la visita, el período entre nacimientos se discute; y se ofrecen servicios de planificación familiar como medio importante para lograr tanto la recuperación y la buena salud de …