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How Do We Know if a Program Made a Difference? A Guide to Statistical Methods for Program Impact Evaluation

This manual provides an overview of core statistical and econometric methods for program impact evaluation (and, more generally, causal modelling). More detailed and advanced than typical brief reviews of the subject, it also strives to be more approachable to a wider range of readers than the advanced theoretical literature on program impact evaluation estimators. It thus forms a bridge between more basic treatments of the essentials of impact evaluation methods and the more advanced discussions. [from abstract]

Fact Sheet: Las conductas de riesgo para hombres indígenas que residen en las zonas de alto y bajo reporte de casos de VIH

This fact sheet was developed by teams of Guatemalan public health professionals who participated long-term capacity building process to promote secondary analysis of the National Maternal and Child Health Survey 2008-2009 (Encuesta Nacional de Salud Materno Infantil – ENSMI 2008-2009) [from abstract]

Child Status Index Training Manual

This manual provides guidance for community care workers and other wardens of orphans and other vulnerable children who intend to use the Child Status Index tool. [from abstract]

Burundi PLACE Report. Priorities for Local AIDS Control Efforts

Methods for monitoring and evaluating HIV prevention are urgently needed. Because resources for interventions are limited, there is an urgent need to focus interventions where they are most cost-effective. The approach taken in the PLACE method is to identify priority prevention areas and within these areas identify public places (such as hotels, bars, and events) where people meet new sexual partners. These places are potential intervention venues where the individuals most likely to transmit HIV can be accessed. Venues and events are identified by informants in the community.

Assessment of Health Management Information System (HMIS) Performance in SNNPR, Ethiopia

This document reports on the assessment findings that serve as a basis for formulating interventions to improve the HMIS performance and as a baseline for future monitoring of HMIS performance improvement in the zones. Additionally, lessons learned from this assessment will further inform needed modifications and/or adaptations of the HMIS performance assessment tools to be used for assessments in the remaining zones of SNNPR. [from introduction]

Innovative Financing for Preservice Education of Health Professionals

In an environment of limited resources, educational institutions must be creative in finding financial resources. This free eLearning course provides an overview of creative financing mechanisms designed to help a health professional education institution reach its funding goals. Participants will learn how to select, prioritize, and implement new financing mechanisms. [from publisher]

Applying the Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) Method in Namibia: Challenges and Implications for Human Resources for Health Policy

As part of ongoing efforts to restructure the health sector and improve health care quality, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) in Namibia sought to update staffing norms for health facilities. To establish an evidence base for the new norms, the MoHSS supported the first-ever national application of the Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) method, a human resource management tool developed by the World Health Organization. [from abstract]

Fulfilling the Health Agenda for Women and Children: The 2014 Report

This report includes an updated, detailed profile for each of the 75 Countdown countries, which together account for more than 95% of the global burden of maternal, newborn and child death. The report shows that progress has been impressive in some areas, but it also highlights the vast areas of unfinished business that must be prioritized in the post-2015 framework. [adapted from introduction]

Hardy Personality and Burnout Syndrome Among Nursing Students in Three Brazilian Universities—An Analytic Study

Nursing students may exhibit the characteristics of resistance to stress, such as hardiness, which can reduce the risk of burnout. However, we found only one published study about these phenomena among nursing students. Thus, we investigated the association between hardiness and burnout in such students. [from abstract]

Nursing Churn and Turnover in Australian Hospitals: Nurses Perceptions and Suggestions for Supportive Strategies

This study aimed to reveal nurses’ experiences and perceptions of turnover in Australian hospitals and identify strategies to improve retention, performance and job satisfaction. [from abstract]

Nurses’ and Care Workers’ Experiences of Spiritual Needs in Residents with Dementia in Nursing Homes: A Qualitative Study

The aim of the study was to investigate nurses’ and care workers’ experiences of spiritual needs among residents with dementia in nursing homes. Nurses claim to practice holistic nursing. [from abstract]

iHRIS Train: An Open Source Tool for Managing Health Worker Training

An overview of iHRIS Train, open source software for managing data on the education of health professionals. iHRIS Train is part of the iHRIS software for health workforce management. [from publisher]

Reforming Health Education Institutions to Eliminate Gender Discrimination

CapacityPlus compiled and analyzed literature on gender discrimination in higher education, including health worker preservice education. Additional information was gathered by contacting institution staff and reviewing institutional websites. Presented at the 2014 Prince Mahidol Award Conference in Pattaya, Thailand on January 27–31, 2014, this poster summarizes the review, highlights lessons learned by the Kenya Medical Training College, and recommends key actions that stakeholders can take at institutional and governmental levels to counter gender discrimination.

Scholarship Ceremony at the Gao Nursing School in Mali

To help make it possible for nursing and midwifery students to continue (or begin) their training, CapacityPlus provided 204 financial scholarships to the students most in need. On December 18, 2013, the school hosted a ceremony to award scholarships to recipients—who comprise 37% of the student body—and to receive new equipment and supplies

Supporting Country-Led Efforts to Recruit and Retain Health Workers and Improve Their Productivity

CapacityPlus, with the USAID ASSIST Project and the World Bank, cohosted a knowledge-sharing and dissemination event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on February 18. The three-hour program focused on the latest evidence from country applications of innovations to strengthen health workforce recruitment, retention, and productivity. [from introduction]

Monitoring Progress Towards Universal Health Coverage at Country and Global Levels: Framework, Measures and Targets

This paper proposes a framework for tracking country and global progress towards UHC [Universal Health Coverage]; its aim is to inform and guide these discussions and assessment of both aggregate and equitable coverage of essential health services as well as financial protection. Monitoring progress towards these two components of UHC will be complementary and critical to achieving desirable health outcome goals, such as ending preventable deaths and promoting healthy life expectancy and also reducing poverty and protecting household incomes. [from abstract]

Rewarding Provider Performance to Enable a Healthy Start to Life: Evidence from Argentina's Plan Nacer

Argentina’s Plan Nacer provides insurance for maternal and child health care to uninsured families. This paper analyzes the impact of Plan Nacer on birth outcomes. The analysis uses data from the universe of birth records in seven Argentine provinces for 2004 to 2008 and exploits the geographic phasing in of Plan Nacer over time. [adapted from abstract]

What a Difference a State Makes: Health Reform in Andhra Pradesh

This paper describes and analyzes Andhra Pradesh’s Aarogyasri scheme [in India], which covers against the costs of around 900 high-cost procedures delivered in secondary and tertiary hospitals. Using a new household survey, the authors find that 80 percent of families are eligible, equal to about 68 million people, and 85 percent of these families know they are covered; only one-quarter, however, know that the benefit package is limited. [adapted from abstract]

Does Involvement of Local NGOs Enhance Public Service Delivery? Cautionary Evidence from a Malaria-Prevention Evaluation in India

Using data from an experimental supportive intervention to India’s malaria control program, this paper studies the impact of leveraging local non-state capacity to promote mosquito net usage and recommended fever care-seeking patterns. The supportive activities were conducted simultaneously by three nongovernmental organizations in two endemic districts in the state of Orissa. The study finds that program impact varied significantly by location. [from abstract]

Encouraging Health Insurance for the Informal Sector : A Cluster Randomized Trial

This paper reports the results of a cluster randomized control trial in which 3,000 households in 20 communes in Vietnam were randomly assigned at baseline to a control group or one of three treatments: an information leaflet about Vietnam’s government-run scheme and the benefits of health insurance; a voucher entitling eligible household members to 25 percent off their annual premium; and both. [from abstract]

Strengthening Malaria Service Delivery Through Supportive Supervision and Community Mobilization in an Endemic Indian Setting: An Evaluation of Nested Delivery

This paper tests the effectiveness of two service delivery models designed to promote recommended behaviors, including prompt treatment seeking for febrile illness, in Odisha India. The tested modules include supportive supervision of community health workers and community mobilization promoting appropriate health seeking. [from abstract]

Interprofessional Education Case Study: Master of Science degree programme in Reproductive Health at Kamuzu College of Nursing, Malawi

The purpose of this paper is to share the case study of developing and implementing an IPE programme at Kamuzu College of Nursing (KCN). Included in the discussion are: the background to Kamuzu College of Nursing; the process of developing
the Master of Science (MSc) in Reproductive Health; the curriculum implementation model; and lessons learned and recommendations. [from introduction]

Strategic Plan: Department of Health 2014/15 to 2018/19

The public health sector works to: promote health, prevent illness and injury, and influence the socio-economic and environmental determinants of health – including the social, economic, physical and environmental
factors that affect health. [from authors]

Annual Performance Plan: 2014/15-2016/17

This strategic plan therefore, contributes to South Africa’s efforts to reduce child and maternal mortality and to control communicable and non-communicable diseases, as well as, in its efforts to encourage South Africans to embrace healthy lifestyle. [from introduction]

Effectiveness of female community health volunteers in the detection and management of low-birth-weight in Nepal

Low birth weight (LBW) is a major risk factor for neonatal death. However, most neonates in low-income countries are not weighed at birth. This results in many LBW infants being overlooked. Female community health volunteers (FCHVs) in Nepal are non-health professionals who are living in local communities and have already worked in a field of reproductive and child health under the government of Nepal for more than 20 years. The effectiveness of involving FCHVs to detect LBW infants and to initiate prompt action for their care was studied in rural areas of Nepal. [from abstract]Amano S

Adventures in rural and remote health services innovation: the role of researcher as collaborator

The trend toward collaborations between researchers and stakeholders in rural/remote health services innovation has the potential to address these issues; researchers can play their part by creating and accepting opportunities for such collaboration. [from authors]

Applying Organizational Learning to Health Challenges in the Developing World

In countries that have historically suffered from limited resources and entrenched medical systems – including Egypt, Afghanistan, and Tanzania – or ganizational learning approaches have enabled frontline health managers and their teams to achieve measurable improvements in critical areas such as family planning, HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, children’s health, and maternal mortality. [from introduction]

Supply-Side Barriers to Maternit y-Care Provision in India: A Facility-Based Analysis

Our study highlights the importance of supply-side barriers to health services utilization. To meet the Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality, policymakers should make additional investment in improving the availability of infrastructure. [from abstract]

Mobile Phones for Real-time Nutrition Surveillance: Approaches, Challenges and Opportunities for Data Presentation and Dissemination

The aim of this report is to review and discuss approaches, opportunities and challenges in the aggregation, presentation and dissemination of data collected in a mobile phone-based nutrition surveillance system. [from introduction]

Effective Use of Information Sources for Breast Cancer Care: Interplay of Mass Media and Interpersonal Channels

This study investigated the influence of media awareness campaigns on breast cancer care among women in South-West Nigeria. This study was anchored on two theories: agenda setting theory and diffusion of innovation theory. [adapted from abstract]