More articles from Field Action Report
- Real-Time Tracking of COVID-19 Rumors Using Community-Based Methods in Côte d’Ivoire
Addressing rumors is critical for managing and ending a public health emergency. We piloted a system for real-time rumor tracking using community-based collection methods, open-source software, and a rapid coding and visualization process to systematically understand and help actors respond to COVID-19 misinformation in Côte d’Ivoire.
- Navigating the COVID-19 Crisis to Sustain Community-Based Malaria Interventions in Cambodia
Despite the impacts of an unforeseen concomitant disaster such as COVID-19, malaria elimination efforts were able to continue because of successful efforts to build trust, relevance, and connection with communities to promote community health malaria workers’ acceptance. With lessons learned from the COVID-19 response, community health workers can be repurposed for broader public health interventions in preparation for future disease outbreaks.
- Institutionalizing a Regional Model for Improving Quality of Newborn Care at Birth Across Hospitals in Eastern Uganda: A 4-Year Story
A locally developed, low-cost package of interventions implemented in a regional network of hospitals resulted in significant reductions in mortality for mothers and newborns as well as the institutionalization of the quality improvement initiative. This work demonstrates that it is possible to achieve the World Health Organization/United Nations Children’s Fund Quality of Care targets in hospitals.
- Early Lessons From Launching an Innovative Community Health Household Model Across 3 Country Contexts
Community health worker programs can contribute substantively to health systems working to implement universal health coverage, but there is no one-size-fits-all model. Program leaders should anticipate needing to adapt their plans as local realities demand, but lessons learned in other contexts can provide guidance on how to best proceed.
- Learnings From a Pilot Study to Strengthen Primary Health Care Services: The Community-Clinic-Centered Health Service Model in Barishal District, Bangladesh
The community-clinic-centered health service model piloted in Bangladesh strengthened community and local government engagement, harmonized the work of different community health worker cadres, and improved client satisfaction. The approach has the potential to strengthen the delivery of close-to-community primary health care services and accelerate progress toward achieving universal health coverage.
- Implementation of a Pediatric Early Warning Score to Improve Communication and Nursing Empowerment in a Rural District Hospital in Rwanda
Implementation of the Pediatric Early Warning Score for Resource-Limited Settings tool improved nurses’ competency and confidence in their triage capabilities. This tool has the potential to improve patient outcomes. However, staff turnover and limited physician buy-in were barriers to sustainability of the tool in low-resource settings.
- Using Patient-Reported Outcome Measures to Promote Patient-Centered Practice: Building Capacity Among Pediatric Physiotherapists in Rwanda
Tracking outcomes is integral to assessing effectiveness of health systems. Multimodal training was offered in the use of a contextually appropriate, patient-centered outcome measure in a low-resource setting. Results offer insights for designing future capacity-building programs.
- Recall Efforts Successfully Increase Follow-Up for Cervical Cancer Screening Among Women With Human Papillomavirus in Honduras
A reminder phone call had a substantial impact on high rates of women returning for rescreening among those at high risk of developing cervical precancer. Scaling up routine cervical screening coverage must be accompanied by efforts to retain women throughout the screening cascade and continuum of care.
- Exploring Barriers: How to Overcome Roadblocks Impeding the Provision of Postabortion Care to Young People in Togo
Before providers were trained in offering youth-friendly postabortion care (PAC), including provision of voluntary contraceptive methods, no youth PAC client chose a modern method before leaving the facility. After training, over a 6-month period 41% of youth PAC clients chose a modern method, most commonly oral contraceptive pills followed by implants and injectables.
- More Than Bar Codes: Integrating Global Standards-Based Bar Code Technology Into National Health Information Systems in Ethiopia and Pakistan to Increase End-to-End Supply Chain Visibility
Bar codes can help track and trace health products in the supply chain. But to do so efficiently, they should be based on global standards rather than a proprietary system, and the captured data should be integrated into national health information systems to achieve end-to-end data visibility.