More articles from ORIGINAL ARTICLE
- Estimating Contraceptive Prevalence Using Logistics Data for Short-Acting Methods: Analysis Across 30 Countries
Three models showed strong correlation between public-sector logistics data for injectables, oral contraceptives, and condoms and their prevalence rates, demonstrating that current logistics data can provide useful prevalence estimates when timely survey data are unavailable.
- The Astronomy of Africa’s Health Systems Literature During the MDG Era: Where Are the Systems Clusters?
The volume of literature on health systems in sub-Saharan Africa has been expanding since the 2000 MDG era. Focus has remained generally on categorical health themes rather than systems concepts. Topics such as scaling-up, organizational development, data use for decision making, logistics, and financial planning remain underrepresented. And quite surprisingly, implementation science remains something of a “black hole.” But bibliometric evidence suggests there is a shift in focus that may soon address these gaps.
- Care Groups II: A Summary of the Child Survival Outcomes Achieved Using Volunteer Community Health Workers in Resource-Constrained Settings
Care Group projects resulted in high levels of healthy behavior, including use of oral rehydration therapy, bed nets, and health care services. Accordingly, under-5 mortality in Care Group areas declined by an estimated 32% compared with 11% in areas with child survival projects not using Care Groups.
- Task Shifting Provision of Contraceptive Implants to Community Health Extension Workers: Results of Operations Research in Northern Nigeria
With training and supportive supervision, male and female Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) in Nigeria safely and effectively provided contraceptive implants, and virtually all clients said they were satisfied. Most CHEWs achieved competency after 5 client insertions. However, the CHEWs provided only an average of 4 insertions per health facility per month. Realizing the true potential of providing implants calls for a context with dedicated providers and robust outreach.
- Improved Reproductive Health Equity Between the Poor and the Rich: An Analysis of Trends in 46 Low- and Middle-Income Countries
In light of advocacy efforts to reach the poorest with better health services, an examination of recent history reveals that overall the poor-rich gap in contraceptive use is already narrowing substantially, and more so where family planning programs are stronger. For most of 18 other reproductive health indicators, the gap is also narrowing. However, contraceptive use gaps in many sub-Saharan African countries have not diminished, calling for strong family planning program efforts to improve equity.
- Care Groups I: An Innovative Community-Based Strategy for Improving Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health in Resource-Constrained Settings
Care Groups use volunteers to motivate mothers to adopt key MCH behaviors. The volunteers meet as a group every 2–4 weeks with a paid facilitator to learn new health promotion messages. Key ingredients of the approach include: peer-to-peer health promotion, selection of volunteers by the mothers, a manageable workload for the volunteers (no more than 15 households per volunteer), frequent (at least monthly) contact between volunteers and mothers, and regular supervision of the volunteers.
- Toward a Systematic Approach to Generating Demand for Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision: Insights and Results From Field Studies
Using an analytical framework to design and implement voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) programs can lead to more effective interventions, especially when insights are incorporated from disciplines such as behavioral science and commercial market research. Promising VMMC behavior change practices: (1) address individual, interpersonal, and environmental barriers and facilitators; (2) tailor messages to men’s behavior change stage and focus on other benefits besides HIV prevention, such as hygiene and sexual pleasure; (3) include women as a key target audience; (4) engage traditional and religious leaders; (5) use media to promote positive social norms; and (6) deploy community mobilizers to address individual concerns.
- Predictors of Essential Health and Nutrition Service Delivery in Bihar, India: Results From Household and Frontline Worker Surveys
Only about 35% of sample households reported receiving immunization, food supplements, pregnancy care information, or nutrition information. Monetary incentives for such product-oriented services as immunization improved performance and may have spillover effects for information-oriented services. Immunization day events and good frontline worker recordkeeping also improved service delivery.
- Establishing and Scaling-Up Clinical Social Franchise Networks: Lessons Learned From Marie Stopes International and Population Services International
Family planning social franchising has succeeded in countries with an active private sector serving low- and middle-income clients, with services provided mostly by mid-level providers, such as nurses and midwives. Key support for social franchising includes: clinical training and supportive supervision, help building sustainable businesses, marketing and demand creation, and mechanisms to make services affordable for clients. The forward agenda includes selectively introducing other priority health services, improving cost-effectiveness of the model, and promoting sustainability and health system integration.
- Private-Sector Social Franchising to Accelerate Family Planning Access, Choice, and Quality: Results From Marie Stopes International
In just 7 years, Marie Stopes International (MSI) has scaled-up social franchising across Africa and Asia, from 7 countries to 17, cumulatively reaching an estimated 3.75 million clients including young adults and the poor. In 2014, 68% of clients chose long-acting reversible contraceptives, and many clients were adopters of family planning. Service quality and efficiency (couple-years of protection delivered per outlet) also improved significantly.