The Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR) at Mahidol University is currently accepting applications for a workshop on “Monitoring and Evaluation of HIV/AIDS Programs,” which will take place July 8 – 19 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The workshop offers intensive training that will cover the fundamental concepts and tools for monitoring and evaluating HIV/AIDS programs and will include sessions on:
- M&E Framework
- Indicators
- Information Systems
- Evaluation Designs
- Developing M&E Plans
- Selecting, Calculating and Interpreting Indicators
- Use of Recently Developed Tools
In addition, modules on program areas and crosscutting issues appropriate for the Asian region and other will also be included.
Hands-on experience in designing M&E plans will be gained by doing exercises, and working in small groups throughout the workshop. The participant groups will present the results of their projects during the final day of the workshop.
The workshop brochure and application are available through the IPSR at Mahidol University web site. Application materials should arrive in Thailand no later than June 10, 2013.
Please note that IPSR is offering this workshop independently and MEASURE Evaluation will not be offering fellowships or providing instructional support for this workshop.
Gender Differences in the Use of Insecticide-Treated Nets After a Universal Free Distribution Campaign in Kano State, Nigeria: Post-Campaign Survey Results
Background
Recent expansion in insecticide-treated net (ITN) distribution strategies range from targeting pregnant women and children under five and distributing ITN at antenatal care and immunization programmes, to providing free distribution campaigns to cover an entire population. These changes in strategy raise issues of disparities, such as equity of access and equality in ITN use among different groups, including females and males. Analysis is needed to assess the effects of gender on uptake of key malaria control interventions. A recent post-universal free ITN distribution campaign survey in Kano State, Nigeria offered an opportunity to look at gender effects on ITN use.
Methods
A post-campaign survey was conducted three to five months after the campaign in Kano State, Nigeria from 19 October to 4 November, 2009, on a random sample of 4,602 individuals. The survey was carried out using a questionnaire adapted from the Malaria Indicator Survey. Using binary logistic regression, controlling for several covariates, the authors assessed gender effects on ITN use among individuals living in households with at least one ITN.
Results
The survey showed that household ITN ownership increased more than 10-fold, from 6% before to 71% after the campaign. There was no significant difference between the proportion of females and males living in households with at least one ITN. However, a higher percentage of females used ITNs compared to males (57.2% vs 48.8%). After controlling for several covariates, females remained more likely to use ITNs compared to males (OR: 1.5, 95% CI: 1.3-1.7). Adolescent boys remained the least likely group to use an ITN.
Conclusions
This study reveals gender disparity in ITN use, with males less likely to use ITNs particularly among ages 15–25 years. The uptake of the intervention among the most at-risk group (females) is higher than males, which may be reflective of earlier strategies for malaria interventions. Further research is needed to identify whether gender disparities in ITN use are related to traditional targeting of pregnant women and children with malaria interventions; however, results provide evidence to design gender-sensitive messaging for universal ITN distribution campaigns to ensure that males benefit equally from such communications and activities.
Read the full journal article on the MEASURE Evaluation web site.
Thoughts?
The first thing to know about Stacey Gage is that she is both thoughtful and fun-loving. Tulane is lucky to have her as their team leader within MEASURE Evaluation. She grew up in Sierra Leone where she earned a bachelors degree in geography. She studied for her masters degree in Ghana, then moved to the US for a PhD in demography from the University of Pennsylvania.
Before her academic job at Tulane and joining MEASURE Evaluation in 2003, she worked at the Population Council, the United Nations Population Division, Macro International (MEASURE DHS), Pennsylvania State University, USAID/Washington (where she served as Technical Advisor to the DHS through a Public Health Institute fellowship), and the Academy for Educational Development where she was Technical Officer for Performance Monitoring with the BASICS-III project.
Stacey has a son and a daughter. Both are now grown and out of the home, so Stacey and her husband plan to explore the world and discover new passions. When she is not working, Stacey spends her time going to jazz festivals, listening to music and dancing (free style). You can see a 4 minute clip of Stacey being interviewed (no, not dancing) at Tulane here.
Jim
MEASURE Evaluation PRH recently presented a webinar on using a geographic information system (GIS) to link, visualize, and analyze multi-sectoral/multi-program data sources. The webinar focused on the results of a case study conducted in Rwanda in the fall of 2011 to explore data linking opportunities using free and open source GIS software. Achieving long-term Family Planning and Reproductive Health objectives through multi-sectoral and/or multi-program activity integration is a core principle of the Global Health Initiative and can be facilitated by data linking.
The full webinar recording and the presentation slides are available online.
Please share your thoughts on the webinar discussion in the comments section below.
Additional Resources
Child, Caregiver & Household Well-being Survey Tools for Orphans & Vulnerable Children Programs
This manual describes the purpose of the orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) program evaluation tools, including when to use these tools, and how to use the tools. The manual also includes information on how the tools have been used to date, and how data generated from them can be used to support program planning and management. In the appendices, a question-by-question breakdown of all three survey tools is provided.
The manual is available for download on the MEASURE Evaluation web site.
Thoughts?
The description of the person I was going to share with you today isn’t quite ready. So, I am going to give you a window into the networking that happens in MEASURE Evaluation – three conversations happening this week.
On Monday we had our monthly conversation between the MEASURE Evaluation leadership and the USAID management team. The meeting happens both face-to-face and electronically. Those of us in Chapel Hill (usually the UNC senior management team, Scott Moreland [team lead for Future], and Scott McKeown [team lead for MSH]) gather in the basement room where we have two large video screens. One projects a video stream of the USAID team in Washington, and the other shows us what they see of us. Then, joining in on a phone line are the MEASURE Evaluation team leads not in Chapel Hill (usually Ani Hyslop [ICF], Stacey Gage [Tulane], and Stephanie Mullen [JSI]), and any of the USAID team that couldn’t make it to their conference room in Washington. The meeting is technologically complicated, but it usually works. And for those of us in a room with others and able to see the other group in a room, being able to see faces makes it a more rewarding conversation.
Today we are hosting visitors from the West African Health Organization (WAHO), with whom MEASURE Evaluation has collaborated in developing health information systems. The four visitors are in this not-very-good photo I took (I also blanked out some wifi connection info on the board behind them). The man on the far left is their Director General, Dr. Placido Cardoso. We talked in our meeting about our organizations and how we might help each other with our respective missions.
The third networking meeting takes place tomorrow. I will be on the phone with people from FHI 360 – especially the LIFT project that addresses food security – about a conference they are hosting and a presentation they have asked me to give on network analysis.
These are three examples in the span of one week of how the work we do depends heavily on the connections we make with others who are engaged in the same goal of improving global health.
Jim
Overview of Child Status Index Studies
In 2009, MEASURE Evaluation published the Child Status Index: A Tool for Assessing the Well-Being of Orphans and Vulnerable Children, a manual designed to capture vulnerable children’s status across the six domains of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Based on anecdotal reports of widespread use, MEASURE Evaluation conducted the Child Status Index Usage Assessment (phase 1) in 2011-2012 to understand how large programs were using the Child Status Index (CSI) to meet a range of information needs. Findings from that study were helpful in understanding the benefits and challenges of using the CSI at the implementing partner level but did not obtain the perspective of community-based workers who use the CSI on a routine basis. In 2012, MEASURE Evaluation conducted a second study, Decision Making Among Community-Based Volunteers Working in Vulnerable Children Programs (phase 2), designed to complement the first study. This document provides an overview of the studies.
Access the full resource on the MEASURE Evaluation web site.
Thoughts?
