Strategy Documents

• Distance Learning
  In order to improve the capacity of nurse aides to deliver basic reproductive, maternal and child health care, DISH is developed a family planning-focused course delivered via a combination distance/on-the-job (OJT) training/learning approach. The strategy also included a learner support system that ensured transfer of training to the job site, and monitoring and evaluation.
  
• Quality of Care: The Yellow Star Program
  

  To help address the low utilization of reproductive health care services (typically a result of poor service quality), the DISH project aimed to enhance service provider self confidence and performance; instituted a team approach to support better quality services; involved communities in quality improvements; and, maintained quality through a system of certification and reward.

  
  
• Safe Motherhood
  Despite efforts to improve the quality of services in Uganda, and evidence showing that antenatal care and delivery assistance services in the DISH districts has improved, utilization of those services remained very low. DISH designed a strategy to help increase utilization of maternal health services with emphasis on assisted deliveries and postnatal care.
  
• Adolescent Friendly Reproductive Health Services
  A DISH pilot project conducted in four health centers in Jinja provided peer based education and counseling to adolescent clients, contraceptive services, post-abortion services and STD/HIV testing, counseling and treatment. DISH expanded these services, using the Jinja pilot as a model, to 32 additional health centers. This project expansion was implemented through a combined comprehensive service delivery strategy and targeted communication strategy.
  
• Long Term and Permanent Family Planning Methods
  Because the use of Norplant, Tubal Ligation and Vasectomy is low in the DISH-supported districts, representatives of DISH, the Ministry of Health and other relevant organizations created a strategy to market these services. The approach focused on: improving the quality and accessibility of services by training more doctors and nurses at fixed facilities and through regularly scheduled outreaches to more rural health facilities; and, providing better quality information through health talks and counseling at facilities, community education through talks and home visits, and disseminating information about the LTPM through print, radio and video materials.
  
  
• Child Health
  DISH II supported the Ministry of Health strategies on Child Health with a special focus on developing sustained technical and operational capacity within the 12 DISH II-supported districts and their health sub-districts. The goal of these activities was to contribute to the reduction of infant and child mortality by the end of the project.
  
• Core Transmitters
  Based on a comprehensive literature review and interviews with truck drivers conducted in 2000, the project developed a communication strategy to influence truck drivers traveling through the DISH project area to adopt safer sexual practices. The intervention linked to complementary activities being implemented by other local organisations. the communication for Development Foundation Uganda (CDFU), the local NGO established by DISH, will seek funding to implement this strategy.
  • "Commercial Sex Workers and Truck Drivers: Background for a Core Transmitter Intervention" .
  • Strategy
  • Truck Drivers Survey Report
• Immunisation
  The DISH II Project assisted the MOH to develop and implement a communication strategy for revitalisation of routine immunisation including the addition of new vaccines against Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b. DISH II also participated in a massive effort to orient all health workers about the additional vaccines during 5-day training courses. The project also worked with the district of Masaka to improve micro planning for immunisation outreaches and is supporting 10 districts to sensitise leaders about routine immunisation.
• Immunisation Communication Strategy
  
• Malaria
  The project supported the distribution of packaged anti-malaria for under-fives through community distributors in selected sub-counties of Mbarara and Kamuli, assisted the Ministry of Health, WHO and UNICEF to prepare and develop materials for a national communication strategy to support home based management of fever.