Latest Articles
- Learning From Neighbors
We can learn valuable lessons from program efforts that at first glance may seem to be far removed from our own work.
- A Cluster-Randomized Trial to Test Sharing Histories as a Training Method for Community Health Workers in Peru
Women naturally communicate using life narratives. Through systematic recall and sharing memories of their own childbearing and child rearing experiences, community health workers (CHWs) become engaged and empowered to change their own and other mothers’ health behaviors. Training CHW with sharing histories can improve capabilities as change agents for better child health.
- Lessons Learned From Implementing Prospective, Multicountry Mixed-Methods Evaluations for Gavi and the Global Fund
Lessons learned from implementing evaluations for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria can help inform the design and implementation of ongoing or future evaluations of complex interventions. We share 5 lessons distilled from over 7 years of experience implementing evaluations in 7 countries.
- Health Care Worker Preferences and Perspectives on Doses per Container for 2 Lyophilized Vaccines in Senegal, Vietnam, and Zambia
When providing immunization services, health care workers balance the mandate of achieving high coverage with limiting vaccine wastage. Workers in 3 countries said that containers with fewer vaccine doses for measles and BCG would enable them to immunize all children who present, while reducing concerns about wasting vaccine.
- Improving Hospital Oxygen Systems for COVID-19 in Low-Resource Settings: Lessons From the Field
Hospitals in low- and middle-income countries urgently need to improve their oxygen systems for COVID-19 and other health emergencies. We share practical tips to improve pulse oximetry and oxygen use, support biomedical engineers to optimize existing oxygen supplies, and expand existing oxygen systems with robust equipment and smart design.
- Effects of a Community-Based Program on Voluntary Modern Contraceptive Uptake Among Young First-Time Parents in Cross River State, Nigeria
Among young first-time mothers, participation in a comprehensive, community-based program led to a 3-fold increase in voluntary modern contraceptive use and other positive changes. These results demonstrate the importance of investing in interventions for this youth population that ideally address a range of priorities across the first-time parent lifestage.
- Remote Mentorship Using Video Conferencing as an Effective Tool to Strengthen Laboratory Quality Management in Clinical Laboratories: Lessons From Cambodia
This program to strengthen laboratory quality management systems in Cambodia demonstrated significant improvements in conformity to ISO 15189 standards in participating laboratories, correlating with laboratory participation time in video conference training activities led by quality improvement mentors over the program implementation period.
- Capturing Acquired Wisdom, Enabling Healthful Aging, and Building Multinational Partnerships Through Senior Global Health Mentorship
The undeniable benefit of mentorship by experience senior mentors can meaningfully increase the breadth of their experience and contributions to society as well as address the dire inequality in global health. This model captures wisdom lost to retirement, enables opportunities for purposeful lifespan, underpins sustainable health care systems, and has the potential for building multinational partnerships.
- A Practical Guide to Using Time-and-Motion Methods to Monitor Compliance With Hand Hygiene Guidelines: Experience From Tanzanian Labor Wards
Understanding hand hygiene behaviors is critical in hospitals. We developed the HANDS at birth tool—and provide information on its design and implementation–to capture the complex patterns of health care workers’ hand hygiene including hand rubbing/washing, glove use, and recontamination.