More articles from Field Action Report
- Using Human-Centered Design to Develop a Program to Engage South African Men Living With HIV in Care and Treatment
Human-centered design (HCD) is a useful methodology for understanding the lived realities, needs, and preferences of men living with HIV and engaging them in the design and pilot of a peer-support program to support their engagement in care.
- Using Human-Centered Design to Develop, Launch, and Evaluate a National Digital Health Platform to Improve Reproductive Health for Rwandan Youth
Human-centered design, done with attention to meaningful participation, equity, and accessibility, is an effective methodology to design digital health interventions with and for youth as it places their unique needs and motivations at the center of the design and helps to ensure usability, equity, and accessibility.
- Using mHealth to Improve Timeliness and Quality of Maternal and Newborn Health in the Primary Health Care System in Ethiopia
The use of mobile health (mHealth) in Ethiopia’s primary health care system offers a potential solution to improve timeliness and quality for maternal and newborn health care services. It is user-friendly and fosters communication between health care workers and health extension workers to provide quality services across the pregnancy continuum of care.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- From Passive Surveillance to Response: Suriname's Efforts to Implement Maternal Death Surveillance and Response
To implement Maternal Death Surveillance and Response successfully in Suriname, recommendations to reduce maternal death should be acted upon. Delineating the roles and responsibilities for action, establishing accountability mechanisms, and influencing stakeholders in a position to act are critical to ensure a response to recommendations to avert maternal mortality.
- Remote Interviewer Training for COVID-19 Data Collection: Challenges and Lessons Learned From 3 Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa
Remote training of interviewers in low-resource settings can be an effective approach during the COVID-19 pandemic when data are critically needed and in-person learning is not possible. We demonstrate that remote interviewer training is possible when interviewers: have at least an intermittent Internet connection, have select physical materials available, and are experienced and part of a cohesive team.
- 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.