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Best Practices

About Best Practices | DISH Best Practices | DISH Success Stories


LTPM
HMIS

Yellow Star
AFRHS

Pre-testing
Nze Nowange

Norplant Training
 

Long Term and Permanent Family Planning Methods (LTPM) Marketing Strategy

The DISH project embarked on a strategy to increase utilisation and awareness of long term and permanent family planning methods such as Tubal Ligation, Norplant and Vasectomy through outreaches, mass media communication are community involvement. The program was so successful it exceeded it's projected goals in three months.

Overview

Background & Strategy

Implementation Tools

Counseling Tools

Communication Tools

The DISH Project and the MOH would like to thank and acknowledge the following organizations and individuals for their generous contribution to this program and the resource package: Dr. Henry Kakande, Tembi Matatu, Jennifer Sengendo, Cheryl Lettenmaier, all members of the LTPM Medical Teams, Community Health Workers, LTPM focal persons, district health officials and the Family Life Education Project (FLEP).

 

Adolescent Friendly Reproductive Health Services (AFRHS)


In conjunction with the Ministry of Health (MOH), the DISH Project implemented a strategy to increase utilisation of reproductive health services; to improve attitudes of health providers towards adolescent needs; and increase community knowledge about ARH. The successful strategy revolved around the training of service providers and peer educators, community involvement, communication and promotional materials, and a launch of available teen services via a "Teen Bash".

Overview

The MOH and DISH II Project would like to thank and acknowledge the following organisations and individuals for their generous contribution to this program and resource packages: the PRIME II Project, Straight Talk Foundation, Group Africa, ACET, Family Care International, Media for Development Trust, Marie Stopes International, Basil Tushabe, Tembi Matatu, Donna Sherard and Margaret Brawley.


 

Using the Health management Information System (HMIS) for Improved Planning & Decision making


The DISH project promoted a culture among district and facility level personnel of making informed decisions based on information they collected at their level. This sense of "ownership" promoted by project staff significantly improved not only decision- making, but also the quality of information. The project promoted this data/ information culture through a variety of tools: "data utilisation" workshops, use of sentinel site system and quarterly indicator performance reports.

Overview

  • Using the Health Management Information System (HMIS) for Improved Planning and Decision Making

     Training & Implementation Tools
  • HMIS 105: Health Unit Monthly Report:Constitutes the basis for routine reporting of Health events and service activities.

  • Data Validation Tool: Documents the quality of information transfer from unit registers to monthly reports and identifies some weak points in the data collection process.

  • District Quarterly Assessment Report: Allows the District to calculate quarterly indicators of performance related to the monitoring of the Health Sector Strategic Plan and define actions to take to improve those indicators, thus linking decision to information.

  • Data Utilisation Training Manual: Provides training materials and guidelines for a workshop that will help district or HSD teams to better define their information needs on the basis of the management functions they fulfil and to present the results of their analysis.
  • Example of the DISH II Project Monitoring Report from the Sentinel Site System 1st Quarter 2002: Shows how the information obtained on a quarterly basis from 80 sentinel sites within the Project area is analysed and presented for monitoring of trends in health problems and service delivery. Monitoring data constitute the basis for further investigation of possible causes of events and for adoption of new or revised intervention strategies.
  • Sample District Data News Bulletin form Ssembabule:Illustrates how district teams use information obtained from the HMIS to share health services results and analysis with stakeholders in the health delivery system.

  • CDROM HMIS Demonstration: Gives an overview of the computerized HMIS software, with its data entry, reporting and analysis functions. This short demo CD indicates the inputs needed for the system to function and shows examples of the outputs that can be produced (Note: the demo CD is not the actual software and cannot be installed as such, nor does it constitute a user's manual for the actual HMIS software).

    The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Delivery of Improved Services for Health (DISH) II Project would like to thank and acknowledge the following individuals and organizations for their contribution to this program and the resource package: Pathfinder International and the DISH I Project, for starting the support process to improved data utilization; Peter Scott and his team at Infomatics for designing and upgrading the HMIS software; the Ministry of Health Resource Centre and World Health Organisation, for providing feedback and guidance on the HMIS review and the upgrading of the software; the DISH Project's Planning/Management Coordinators, the districts' MIS Officers and all those who worked on the piloting and testing of the computerized system and those who trained managers and providers on data utilisation.

  Improving the Quality of Health Care Services Through monitoring of Standards and Recognition of Performance: The Yellow Star Program

In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, district health officials and other development partners, the DISH Project helped to develop a program to improve and maintain the quality of public health care services through a system of supervision, certification and recognition. The strategy encourages health facilities to maintain basic standards and involves the community as an active participant in the process. The Ministry of Health is implementing plans to take the program nation-wide.

Overview


The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Delivery of Improved Services for Health (DISH) II Project would like to thank and acknowledge the following individuals and organizations for their generous contribution to this program and the resource package: Professor Emmanual Kaijuka, Quality Assurance Department-MOH, Dr. Henry Mwebesa, Quality Assurance Department-MOH, all the members of the Yellow Star Working Group, the personnel of the District Health Services Offices in the 12 DISH-Supported Districts, the staff from CARE International and the staff at DISH including Dr. Vincent David, Dr. Elizabeth Ekochu, Margaret Brawley, Cheryl Lettenmaier, and Jennifer Sengendo

  Nze N’owange: A Community & Radio Game Show for Family Planning

This innovative "Know Your Mate" game show attracted large crowds in local communities and even larger audiences through radio broadcasts. A week before the show, DISH staff identified couples in the community who were happy to answer questions on stage about a variety of personal topics, including family planning. The subsequent radio broadcasst was also successful, reaching 39% of men and women interviewed during the 2001 Radio Listenership Survey.

Overview


The DISH II Project would like to thank and acknowledge the following individuals and organizations for their generous contribution to this best practice: Cheryl Lettenmaier, Margaret Brawley, Jennifer Sengendo, the DISH IEC Coordinators, the District Health Educators, Commercial Market Strategies, Central Broadcasting Service (CBS), Group Africa and all the commercial sponsors who contributed prizes.

 

Norplant Training for Health Workers


The Ministry of Health (MOH) requested DISH staff to train lower cadre health workers (midwives, nurses and clinical officers) in rural areas to provide Norplant insertion and removal services; previously this had only been done by doctors. The training was so successful that the evaluation clearly showed not only that lower cadre health workers could provide these services as well as doctors, but also that clients were more comfortable with them. MOH now routinely trains midwives, nurses and clinical officers to provide these services, thus increasing access.

Overview

Counselling & Communication Materials


The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Delivery of Improved Services for Health (DISH) II Project would like to thank and acknowledge JHPIEGO and the Regional Centre for Quality of Health Care for their generous contribution to this program including the development of the training curriculum and handbook, as well as permission to reproduce the Norplant Implants Guidelines for Family Planning Service Programs: A Problem-Solving Reference Manual.

  Pre-Testing Methodology


DISH project staff developed a systematic way of involving their carefully selected target audiences in the development of materials designed for them. Strict adherence to a scientific approach and the high value placed on audience feedback insured media and materials that were well understood and accepted

Overview
Pre-testing Methodology for Behaviour Change Communication Materials

Sample Pre-Testing Methodologies & Recording Tools
Copies of methodologies and tools from various DISH Project behaviour change communication interventions. Each is adapted to fit a particular material.

The Delivery of Improved Services for Health (DISH) II Project would like to acknowledge the following organizations and individuals for their contribution to this methodology and best practice: MCL McCANN Uganda, Cheryl Lettenmaier, Jennifer Sengendo, Nankunda Allen, Anne Gamurorwa, Margaret Brawley, Basil Tushabe, Wamara Moses and all the IEC Coordinators, Francis Kintu, research assistants and volunteers who helped to implement the pre-testing exercises.