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Elvira Beracochea, MD MPH, Deputy Director, Advance Africa Project, 4301 Fairfax Drive, Suite 400, Arlington, VA 22203-1627, 703-248-1631, eberacochea@advanceafrica.org, Mercedes Torres, Best Practices Unit, Advance Africa Project, 4301 Fairfas Drive, Suite 400, Fairfax, VA 22203-1627, Nina Pruyn, Dissemination and Knowledge Management, Advance Africa Project, 4301 Fairfax Drive, Suite 400, Fairfax, VA 22203-1627, and Issakha Diallo, MD DrPH, Project Director, Advance Africa Project, 4301 Fairfax Drive, Suite 400, Fairfax, VA 22203-1627.
The purpose of this presentation is to introduce the audience to the use of evidence-based public health information when making programmatic decisions. The Best Practices Compendium, developed by the Advance Africa Project, is an evidence-based tool that documents and disseminates information on proven and effective practices in family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) programs. The Compendium assists users to identify existing Best Practices relevant to their area of interest, and use them to design new programs or projects and to improve existing ones.
The Compendium organizes practices implemented worldwide by region, country, target population, and technical and specific practice areas. The user can access and search this database on a free CD-ROM or through the compendium’s website. The practices go through a systematic review process involving unbiased reviewers from multiple agencies to ensure consensus on the meaning and validity of the evidence provided by the submitter. Advance Africa distributes the compendium to those that request it worldwide and targets African FP/RH program managers; decision-makers in ministries of health and donor agencies; libraries; schools of public health, nursing, and medicine; and information dissemination organizations.
This presentation will describe how a compendium is built, maintained, and used. Advance Africa will present the findings of an email users’ survey on how they utilized the compendium to improve their programs, and of in-depth interviews with submitters and reviewers. The presentation will end with recommendations for incorporating incentives for using evidence-based information to improve FP/RH programs. Participants will receive copies of the Compendium.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Family Planning, Reproductive Health
Related Web page: www.advanceafrica.org/compendium/
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Advance Africa Project
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: I am employed by The Advance Africa Project